The European Commission (EC) is set to approve a merger between Orange and T-Mobile, which will create the largest mobile phone company in the United Kingdom. A request from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to the Commission to launch its own independent investigation spurred both operators into action to alleviate any concerns that regulators might have with the merger.
Among the concerns were the dominant share the new company would have over the scarce wireless spectrum and what the merger would have meant to the UK’s smallest mobile phone network; 3. Despite being the smallest network in the UK, 3 can be credited with driving price competition in the UK in recent years.
In order to fend off a lengthy competition-probe in the UK, T-Mobile and Orange came to a deal with 3, which is owned by Hong Kong conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa.
Under the new deal, 3 will get access to 3,000 more mast sites across the UK. This would bring its total access to 16,000 sites and give it the largest 3G network in the United Kingdom. As for concerns about the wireless spectrum, T-Mobile and Orange agreed that the new mobile network would give back a quarter of the spectrum allotted to it for use by rivals to provide wireless broadband services.
The OFT’s main concern appeared to be the effect the merger would have on the 3 network, and so it would appear the European Commission has resolved all major concerns from a competition stand-point. The EC had until March 1 to respond to the OFT request.
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Result for: mobile phone network
According to the iPhone Dev Team, unlocking software for iPhone 3G units can soon be a reality.
A video produced by the team shows that they have gained access to the baseband processor used in the iPhone 3G. CNET says the “the baseband chip is what controls the connection between the phone and the mobile phone network, meaning that a software download that could let you use your iPhone 3G on a carrier network other than the ones officially designated by Apple could be released soon.”
The original iPhone was unlocked within a short time from its launch but the 3G model has proven harder to crack. The baseband in the new model is more difficult to exploit than its predecessors.
Although it is possible to unlock the iPhone 3G by modifying a SIM card, there are no software-based unlocks available yet.
The demand for unlocked iPhone 3Gs is smaller than that of the original iPhone due to Apple’s decision to release the phone all around the world and on many carriers. However, there are still places such as China that do not have official iPhone carriers and where mobile phone users want iPhones.
Result for: mobile phone network
According to the iPhone Dev Team, unlocking software for iPhone 3G units can soon be a reality.
A video produced by the team shows that they have gained access to the baseband processor used in the iPhone 3G. CNET says the “the baseband chip is what controls the connection between the phone and the mobile phone network, meaning that a software download that could let you use your iPhone 3G on a carrier network other than the ones officially designated by Apple could be released soon.”
The original iPhone was unlocked within a short time from its launch but the 3G model has proven harder to crack. The baseband in the new model is more difficult to exploit than its predecessors.
Although it is possible to unlock the iPhone 3G by modifying a SIM card, there are no software-based unlocks available yet.
The demand for unlocked iPhone 3Gs is smaller than that of the original iPhone due to Apple’s decision to release the phone all around the world and on many carriers. However, there are still places such as China that do not have official iPhone carriers and where mobile phone users want iPhones.
