Lord Mandelson Requests Summit With CEOs Of UK Mobile Phone Operators

Lord Mandelson, it seems, is looking to solve the issue associated with fast broadband access across the United Kingdom as soon as possible.

The Guardian reported that the business secretary has "summoned" the heads of UK's five mobile phone operators to "bang some heads together".

Ultimately, the goal of the meeting is to work out a quick (and possibly cheap) way of turning the government's plans of allowing everyone to get a broadband in the UK into reality before 2012.

The seminal report, Digital Britain, prepared by Lord Carter before he left, drew the plans for a country crisscrossed by super fast fiber optic cables. 

These were supposed to be financed by a 50p monthly levy on all phone lines but was readily discarded due to political reasons.

Instead it seems, the government wants to force the five mobile phone companies to strike a deal over the 900Mhz wireless spectrum which were originally allocated to BT Cellnet (O2) and Vodafone back in the 1980's. 

In addition, the government is also exploring the possibility of selling off the 800MHz spectrum that will be freed once analogue TV signals are switched off in 2012.

Both 800MHz and 900MHz wireless spectrum are well suited for long distance transmission since they can travel farther and are therefore ideal for rural areas.

The task that lies ahead is significant; in a report published a few days ago, the Office of National Statistics said that around a third of UK households can't get internet.

An even bigger proportion wouldn't be able to get access to broadband connection because they live too far from a telephone exchange.