The UK communications regulator Ofcom has announced that it will be holding an auction of radio spectrum for fourth generation mobile services early next year. The digital dividend resulting from the switch from analogue to digital TV in the UK has made the 800 MHz band available for broadband mobile services. A 2.6 GHz band will also be auctioned. These bands will provide the much-needed capacity for 4G long-term evolution (LTE) networks to satisfy the increasing demand for high-speed Internet access while on the move.

The national telecoms regulators in France, Spain and Australia are also expected to award mobile spectrum for 4G services in 2012 while India and Germany have already held auctions.
LTE mobile services are already available in several Swedish, Norwegian, and Finnish cities and Verizon plans to have at least 147 cities in the USA covered by LTE this year.

PTT’s online course MBF: “4G and LTE mobile systems” is designed for those who are, or intend to be, involved in planning strategies for 4G mobile systems and LTE (Long Term Evolution).