Two UK Networks to Share 4G Infrastructure:

Two of the UK's mobile networks, EE and Three are reported to have signed a deal to share their network infrastructure.

Although neither company has confirmed the development publicly, Three's CEO David Dyson announced the agreement to the Financial Times newspaper.

According to the report, the two mobile networks will jointly deploy their LTE network going forward, and will share towers and backhaul costs.

However, the two sides are said to have very different priorities for their 4G rollout, with Three being more relaxed about a fast deployment, while EE has pushed ahead aggressively.

EE was formed from the merger of Orange and T-Mobile in the UK, and Three already had a network sharing agreement with the T-Mobile side of the company, which is still in effect.

ETSI Publishes White Paper on Security Issues:

The European standards body, ETSI has released a new white paper on ICT security related standards. This white paper describes the security-related work undertaken in each of ETSI's technology fields, including mobile/wireless communications, network infrastructure, electronic signatures, smart cards and emergency telecommunications.

Over the years, ETSI says that it has developed a unique expertise in standardizing secure communication technologies, building in encryption techniques and fraud prevention mechanisms. The standardization of security features now covers the whole spectrum of ICT.

"Security is not an additional feature that can be patched on after the adoption of a technology, it must be taken into account from the beginning of the standardization process." says Charles Brookson, chairman of ETSI's Operational Coordination Group on Security. "Indeed, in many cases it can be a winning driver that enables the overall success of the technology, and with increasing demands of privacy and integrity of data, security is legally essential for businesses which generate and handle user or customer data."

The paper provides a high-level overview of ETSI's security standardization, including past and current work, as well as a detailed listing of all ETSI specifications related to security.

Poland to Auction Off Radio Spectrum for LTE Services:

Poland's telecoms regulator, the UKE has announced plans to auction off blocks of radio spectrum in the 800Mhz and 2.6Ghz bands.

The participants to the first auction of this type in Poland will compete for 5 licences in the 800MHz band and for 14 frequencies in the 2.6 GHz band.

The auction participants will be committed to commencing the use of the frequencies and to commercial launch of their services within 12 months of the date of delivery of the general exclusive frequency licence in the 800MHz band and not later than within 36 months of the date of delivery of the general exclusive frequency licence in the 2.6GHz band.

Moreover, the auction participants who receive general exclusive frequency licences in the 800 MHz band will be committed to covering with their own network at least 83-89% of the communes, listed by the regulator within 24 months. In total there are 1242 such communes in Poland and only several have more than 20,000 inhabitants.

The regulator added in a separate statement that it will support the use of shared network infrastructure by the mobile networks, although the curiously rambling statement did not elaborate on the details of their opinion.