O2 extends 900MHz 3G coverage

O2 has turned on additional high-speed 3G services that use the 900MHz band of spectrum to provide extra network capacity and faster download speeds for its mobile customers.

O2's new 3G900 network will provide users in Bradford, Bristol, Glasgow, Nottingham, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Leicester, Sheffield and Liverpool with up to 30 percent faster download speeds and up to fifty percent more capacity, the company said.

"This 3G900 switch-on is the latest in a series of network enhancements for O2," Nigel Purdy, chief technical officer for O2 in the UK, said in a statement on Monday. "We invest the equivalent of over £1m a day, every day, in our network, which is used to deliver technologies in a way that goes beyond traditional cellular infrastructure; providing access to a new range of 'smarter' services."

The 900MHz spectrum band was previously only licensed for 2G services in the UK but was refarmed — with the European Commission's approval — to provide 3G mobile broadband services in January.

On 18 March, O2 switched on 3G services that use the 900MHz band in London and revealed that it had already started switching on the service in other "key cities" including Leeds, Birmingham and Manchester.