The new sale of "3G licences" represents the making available of more of the UK radio spectrum (2.5 to 2.7 MHz) but for unspecified use (any radio, wifi service etc.) rather than for a designated (eg 3G) mobile phone infrastructure. The advantage of higher frequencies is greater data capacity, but lower range per Watt. How the industry will respond, given the failure of 3G to fly and earn back on the last investment, remains to be seen. May be a case of "buy it or lose it".

3G is third generation. 4G (fourth) represents a future that is still an intention rather than a commercial offering yet. Whatever it brings, it will be further integration of national security, personal identification (possibly tracking), focussing all means of communication, of personal data records, lifestyle activity etc. into a single stream. We might at present (might) think it terribly efficient to have a big central database where we can identify the rogues and curtail their activities. It would be really easy to link the national DNA database and spot genetic trends for crime, even health, and of course for personal profiling (and sell this info to marketing people who desperately would like it, to help pay for the whole thing). There has already been considerable work done by the military on weapons that target genetic groups (David Kelly, it seems, was involved with such work in Israel.) Put all that together and find a government in fear, working with its military, and its usefulness is rather different from the efficient e-government we are being offered now.

4G (if it is of the terahertz variety circulated a few days ago) is a whole new ballgame, with global military communications and weapons linkage, potential primary defence funding etc. but it is a only logical extension of where we are going already. And it ain't good.

Andy

From Mast Network