This is why it kicked off its freshest campaign,
4GBritain, which calls on the Government and
related industry players to fast-forward the
process and start rolling out next-gen portable internet as soon as
possible.
Capital Economics (CE) has been given the task to examine the
benefits (both to the economy and society) such a deployment can
potentially bring. The Head of Commissioned Projects at CE,
Mark Pragnell, was quoted as saying that it would
heighten the "UK GDP by as much as half a percentage point". He
continued:
"The near-term £5.5bn private
industry investment we project is substantial - and opportune for
the wider economy given the recent investment slump."
CE also found that 4G services are going to cook up or at least
"safeguard" 125,000 UK jobs (which is good news
considering the current economic climate).
Meanwhile, the industry still takes EE's 4G ambitions with a
pinch of salt, seen as it is very keen on Ofcom giving the merger
the green light to use the 1800MHz band for 4G a year ahead of the
official auction and deployment schedule.
Olaf Swantee, CEO of Everything Everywhere,
stated that while 30 countries have 4G up and running:
"The UK has the highest
levels of smartphone penetration and mobile commerce in Europe, and
Britons deserve to have the best infrastructure in place to support
this growth."
The question is how long it will take the UK's consumers to bin
their 3G-enabled smarties to grab the 4G ones...
