UWB in EuropeI came across this item today that was

UWB in Europe

I came across this item today that was interesting. Quoting the article:

Ultrawideband is to be legalised across Europe within the next six months, following its approval by a key European Commission group.

The short-range, high-bandwidth technology - which promises speeds of up to 1Gbps - has until now been illegal outside the US. Its status has now been reversed at a meeting on the 4th and 5th December of the Radio Spectrum Committee (RSC), a European Commission body which can mandate spectrum usage across the continent.

Ofcom's chief technologist, Professor William Webb, said on Friday that the UK regulator was "delighted" at the approval of ultrawideband (UWB). He pointed out that if the RSC approves a document "it automatically becomes EC law" and said the decision to mandate acceptance of UWB across all European states within the next six months was taken at an RSC meeting earlier this week.

Note that the chairman's report has yet to be posted on the RSC website. The cited article basically implies that this document has been accepted by RSC (perhaps with modifications). Note that pages 9-13 contain a draft Decision for the EC.

How does this compare to efforts at the FCC to allow UWB? How about elsewhere in the world?

Technorati Tags:
UWB, ultra wideband, Europe, RSC, EU, FCC

Martin Weiss

Wireless data services and net neut

In reading a special section of BusinessWeek (free registration required), I came across the following quote in this article:

Mobile operators such as Vodafone have long been content to fly solo as they make the costly push beyond voice calling into data. Many European carriers reckoned they didn't need to form partnerships to make good on upwards of $100 billion spent on the government-issued licenses needed for delivering advanced wireless services such as Internet access.

They may be singing a different tune, judging from a spate of recent announcements. Vodafone, for example, announced on Nov. 14 that it was forming a partnership with Yahoo! (YHOO) to put advertisements on mobile phones. Then, on Nov. 16, Hutchison Whampoa's British wireless operator 3 unveiled its X-Series, which bundles wireless broadband applications including Google and eBay for a flat fee, an effort aimed at encouraging customer adoption of data services

Is this the same as the fees that content providers are upset about in the US? If so, why the change? Is there a relationship between the content provider's interest and the carrier's?

Technorati Tags:
Network Neutrality, 3G, mobile, Vodafone, Google, Ebay

Martin Weiss