Did you hear the sound of thundering hooves this morning? If so, that was two giants of the telecoms industry getting it together. Telefonica UK - O2 to you and me - and Vodafone have unveiled a plan to share their network infrastructure, with the promise that this will deliver next-generation 4G services to UK consumers in double-quick time.
A radical restructuring of the mobile market has been underway - and what we're seeing is the final piece in the jigsaw. There's already a network sharing agreement in place between Everything Everywhere (the daftly named combo of Orange and T-Mobile) and Three, with around 18,000 shared masts by the time the whole operation is completed. Now Vodafone and O2 will have between them 18,500 sites, each delivering coverage to both company's customers.
The UK mobile phone industry has been struggling to adapt to a new world where data from smartphones - rather than voice calls - is putting an increasing load on their networks. At the press conference unveiling the alliance, Telefonica UK's Ronan Dunne talked of a data tsunami, which was only going to get bigger, as 50% of UK teenagers now had a smartphone.
That's why the much delayed auction of 4G spectrum - which should offer much greater capacity - is so important for a digital Britain where more and more of our internet use is going to take place over mobile rather than fixed networks. But now, promised Guy Laurence of Vodafone, the two companies would be able to deliver 4G coverage to 98% of the UK population by the end of 2015 - two years earlier than would otherwise have been the case.
But when I mentioned this story on Twitter this morning, the reaction from many O2 and Vodafone customers was immediate - never mind 4G, when are we going to get some reliable 3G or even 2G around here? The two firms insist this is good news for notspots, where customers will, according to Guy Laurence, "go from zero to hero" in the next couple of years. In particular, they are stressing that indoor coverage - lamentable even in some urban areas in my experience - will be vastly improved.
Customers who have been hearing similar promises for many years may be excused for being cynical. But this time it looks as though both Cornerstone, the Telefonica/Vodafone joint venture, and MBNL, Everything Everywhere's alliance with Three, are serious about investing enough to deliver proper coverage.
So what we will be left with is two mobile networks at the wholesale level, with consumers then able to choose between four main suppliers, plus virtual network operators like Tesco and Virgin. Much the same, in fact, as the fixed line industry, where BT and Virgin Media have an effective wholesale duopoly, but there is still plenty of choice at the retail level.
Four telecoms giants now have the task of delivering on the promise of Digital Britain outlined by the last two governments. The culture secretary Jeremy Hunt has pledged that Britain will have the best superfast broadband in Europe by 2015, with mobile playing a vital role in that. Now it's up to the private sector to make it happen.
Vodafone and O2 speed up roll-out of 4G technology through shared network - The Guardian
Vodafone and O2: sharing 18,500 masts. Photograph: PA Vodafone and O2 are clubbing together to speed up the roll-out of superfast 4G mobile broadband to virtually everyone.
The nation's second- and third-biggest mobile operators say they will pool their network of radio masts and antennas to enable them to cover 98% of the population by 2015.
Combined, the companies will share a network of 18,500 masts which, they promise, will extend current 2G and 3G coverage to all but the most remote villages. They will also kit out the masts with 4G technology so they can offer mobile internet speeds fast enough to download and stream TV and music as soon as the government approves the sales of 4G licences.
The deal follows the merger of Orange and T-Mobile UK to create the nation's biggest network, run by a new joint venture company called Everything Everywhere. Vodafone and O2's deal is not a full-blown merger and the companies will continue to operate different airwaves. Three, the nation's smallest operator, piggybacks on Everything Everywhere's network.
Guy Laurence, chief executive of Vodafone UK, said: "This will create two stronger players who will compete with each other and with other operators to bring the benefits of mobile internet services to consumers and businesses across the country. This partnership will improve the service that customers receive today and give Britain the 4G networks that it will need tomorrow."
Ronan Dunne, chief executive of O2, which is owned by Spanish telecoms giant Telefónica, said: "Exceptional customer demand for the mobile internet has challenged the mobile industry to consider innovative solutions. This partnership is about working smarter as an industry."
Matthew Howett, lead telecom analyst at Ovum, said the operators are being forced to explore network-sharing deals to save money as consumers reined in spending.
"In the face of continued downward pressure on revenues (coming from cuts in mobile termination rates and international roaming in Europe), operators are understandably looking to reduce costs where possible," he said. "The sharing of network infrastructure is now a common practice and it's pragmatic that these two operators should do the same."
But he warned that the roll-out of 4G services was still dependent on mobile operators resolving their bickering about the much-delayed government auction of 4G spectrum. "Unless swift action is taken, the UK could risk being one of the last countries in Europe to get 4G services," Howett said.
4G services are already up and running in Lithuania and most of Scandinavia, and even Angola is scheduled to get 4G before the UK. Jeremy Hunt, the culture secretary, has pledged that Britain will have the best superfast broadband in Europe by 2015.
As part of the deal about 2,500 overlapping masts will be removed from towns, cities and the countryside. The companies said the agreement would not lead to any job losses.
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