One grid to rule them all, one grid to bind them -- network giants Telefonica (which owns O2) and Vodafone are planning on joining forces to create a shared grid in the UK.
The move, which sees the longtime rivals teaming up to combine their network infrastructure, is designed to speed up the introduction of 4G services to the UK, as well as boosting existing services.
Unless anything goes haywire with the upcoming 4G spectrum auction, the blue and red-tinted operators believe they'll be doling out 4G coverage to 98 per cent of the population by 2015.
That'll be at speeds of at least 2Mbps, though the networks say actual speeds received will likely be many times faster.
Unlike Orange and T-Mobile's Everything Everywhere team-up, this new unholy alliance doesn't mean O2 and Vodafone are becoming a single entity -- only that they're agreeing to create a single grid that will beam out both operators' networks.
O2 and Vodafone are still very much competing and offering separate services, so it's unlikely customers will be able to connect to either network, in the way that Orange and T-Mobile customers are.
The two companies will pool their hardware, which means things like towers and masts. When the dust has settled, the operators plan to, er, operate on a single grid of 18,500 masts, which will result in a 10 per cent reduction of the total number of UK sites used by the two companies.
Analyst bods at Ovum reckon the unlikely pairing is a defensive move to compete with operator double-whammy Everything Everywhere. "If Vodafone and Telefonica had not also embraced sharing in this way they would have been at a competitive disadvantage," Ovum's Jeremy Green said in a statement.
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Comments 6
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anonymous 7 June, 2012 13:10
If only they would share signals as Orange/T-Mobile do then it would be an attractive proposition.
anonymous 7 June, 2012 13:47
I think all networks should be made to merge as one general signal that all networks connect to then we might get better competition for tarrifs.
anonymous 7 June, 2012 14:25
I was with T-Mobile until they recently hicked up their prices on a contract already in. Don't care how good the signal is if a company treats you like trash. Joined 02 & get a far better reception & deal for that matter, than T-Mobile ever provided. Teaming up with Vodafone is a huge benefit.
anonymous 7 June, 2012 20:36
I agree with the comment above, Everything Everywhere have the worst customer service, they often can't speak English properly and find it difficult to understand you. My experience with O2 and Vodafone customer service is that they are much more helpful. also they are both based in the UK :)
anonymous 8 June, 2012 13:40
FINALLY!!!!
There is no need to compete on coverage/hardware. In fact competition harms coverage.
They might not share the signal but this means that their 4G coverage will be identical, so sharing the signal (like EE) is an irrelevant point.
This is win, win, win.
Less Masts, less wireless signals (I'm not one of those people who think we're all going to die from signals, but it can only be better to have less of them), better coverage, less expense for the operators.
Now if only they joined up with Everything Everywhere, and we just had one grid, which all networks share. That would increase competition where it really matters, in the tariffs.
anonymous 9 June, 2012 20:13
Finally! I'm on vodafone and they have got terrible 3G coverage, but really really good mobile coverage