The mobile revolution continues

It’s been a busy time for mobile. Hot on the heels of AT&T announcing they had bought T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telekom for £24bn and thus created the largest US wireless network is the news that Ofcom is launching the next generation 4G consultation.

This is big news for the UK. Being auctioned early next year it is expected to generate even more than the sale of 3G in 2000 which raised a record £22.5bn for the Treasury. According to Ofcom chief executive Ed Richards it is “critical to the future of the UK mobile telecommunications market but it is also of significant importance to the wider economy”.

We reported some persuasive statistics for mobile marketing in our last blog (Mobile marketing influencing fashion and business) but this development takes mobile into another league entirely. The auction comes with the condition of extending mobile coverage to 95 percent of the UK and delivering fast broadband connection to phones wherever you are. 4G will increase mobile browsing, mobile content consumption and ‘app mania’ which means more mobile impressions, page views and unique visits for publishers and advertisers.

“This move will put us back in the mobile game alongside countries such as America and Japan who already have 4G networks. I would encourage all UK businesses to consider mobile marketing as an essential part of their marketing communication plans going forward. It’s set to be big!”
Mark Littlewood, managing director