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Refarming mobile spectrum: does this mean 3G coverage is about to get better?

This week sees a decision that could lead to wider access to mobile data.

The European Commission has decided to reallocate parts of the radio spectrum used for 2G services and use by 3G services. The process is known in telco-speak as 'refarming', and will, according to the operators, open up 3G services to 300 million more people in Asia, Europe and Africa.

This move has come about as a result of the growth in the use of 3G, which operates at higher frequencies than good old 2G, or GSM, which of course works at the familiar 900 and 1800MHz ranges. This uptake of 3G has been at the expense of 2G radio spectrum usage, a reduction that's freed up capacity. And apparently there's enough spectrum going spare to make it worthwhile loading it up with 3G services.

It could result in better 3G coverage, not just because there's more spectrum available, but also because the radio frequencies used by 2G propagate much better than standard 3G spectrum, which operates today at 2100MHz, significantly higher than 2G.

As with anything involving basic physics, you don't get something for nothing, so the greater capacity allowed by 3G's higher radio frequencies is offset by the fact that such frequencies need line of sight access and don't penetrate objects, such as walls, hills and trees, very well. It's the reason why the 1800MHz mobile phone signal isn't good in hilly rural areas. But it's better than 3G's patchy 2100MHz coverage, while the 900MHz coverage is near-universal.

As a result, the operators could gain higher revenues in rural areas where 3G hardly works at all, as a result of their initial concentration on lucrative urban areas when building out the 3G networks.

The refarming process would also help the operators fend off the challenge from WiMax and other fourth-generation mobile technologies. The only downside, according to one analyst, appears to be the possibility of radio interference through greater use of the spectrum.

Other than that this looks like that rare thing indeed: a win for operators and users alike.