Three doesn’t rely on just one frequency band for its mobile network. In fact, it uses quite a few of them, namely the 800MHz, 1800MHz, 2100MHz, 3400MHz, and 3600-4000MHz frequencies – though some of them will only really come into play when it launches 5G in August.
But what are the advantages and disadvantages of each? And what does that mean for you? Read on below for answers to all that and more.
But first, we’ll explain what we actually mean by a frequency in the first place.
Frequencies are what mobile networks use for the transmission and reception of their network signals. So without access to frequency there would be no network.
But a number of different frequencies are used. In the UK there were 5 different ones used by mobile networks for 4G, namely 800MHz, 900MHz, 1800MHz, 2100MHz and 2600MHz, with more coming into play to power 5G. And ever more bands may yet be used over time, as there’s a limited amount of capacity offered by each.
Three currently uses the following frequencies for mobile:
You’ll find full details of these and what Three uses them for below, along with information on the other frequencies Three has access to, some of which will soon start being used.
The 800MHz band is the lowest frequency of the bands used by UK mobile networks, and being that low frequency comes with some key advantages, as the lower the frequency the further a signal can travel on the band.
That means masts can be more spread out, so less infrastructure is potentially required and rural locations (where masts tend to be few and far between) can still get a signal.
Low frequencies are also better than high frequencies at penetrating walls and other solid objects, so you’re more likely to get a signal in your home or office if the 800MHz band is in use. More generally this also makes the 800MHz band good for built up urban areas like cities.
It’s a good all-rounder then, but it’s also in relatively short supply. Mobile networks were only able to acquire small 5MHz and 10MHz blocks of it, which means it won’t necessarily cope with heavy data traffic as well as some other bands.
In that sense it’s less suited to cities, where a lot of people will be using mobile data at the same time. That’s one of the reasons it’s not alone. Three uses the 800MHz band for 4G, but it also uses another, which we’ll get to below.
Three acquired two lots of 5MHz blocks of this band in Ofcom’s 2013 spectrum auction after the band was freed up by the death of analogue TV.
The 1800MHz (aka 1.8GHz) band is also used by Three for 4G and is the highest frequency band that Three uses for 4G.
Being higher frequency means that it’s available in greater capacity, so it can deal with more simultaneous connections.
On the other hand, the 1800MHz band isn’t as long range as 800MHz and nor can it penetrate walls as well, so masts need to be closer together for it to work effectively and it’s better outside than inside.
Individually both bands are flawed then, but they work well together, and even the 1800MHz band isn’t as high frequency as some bands used by other networks for 4G, or as the 2100MHz band, which is used by Three, but only for 3G.
Three acquired its 1800MHz holdings from EE, which was required to sell some of its spectrum back in 2012 to ensure fair competition.
However, Three wasn’t allowed to access any of this until late 2013, with more becoming available for use in mid-2015.
As you can probably imagine, the 2100MHz (aka 2.1GHz) band emphasises the strengths of the 1800MHz band (namely capacity) but also suffers from the same weaknesses to a greater extent, as it’s shorter range still and not good at passing through walls and other solid objects.
However, it’s worth noting that Three doesn’t use this frequency for 4G, just for 3G, so when it comes to 4G data the 2100MHz band’s strengths and weaknesses won’t be a consideration.
It’s useful for Three to have though, since the more frequency the network has in total the more reliable and widespread its network can be.
Three is going to launch its 5G network in August 2019 and at that point it will start using other frequencies alongside those above.
This spectrum was acquired in part at Ofcom’s first 5G spectrum auction, held in 2018, and in part through Three’s purchase of UK Broadband.
The spectrum in question includes 60Mhz in the 3.4GHz band covering the 3460 – 3500MHz and 3580 – 3600MHz ranges, along with 164MHz in the 3.6GHz - 4GHz range, covering 3600-3680MHz and 3925-4009MHz.
You might have noticed that the 3580 – 3600MHz and 3600 – 3680Mhz blocks line up, which is no accident. Three arranged this with Ofcom, as it gives the network 100MHz of contiguous spectrum ideal for 5G, which could put it at an advantage over rivals.
All of these bands are short range and poor at passing through obstacles, but large blocks of them are available, giving them the capacity 5G is sure to need.
Three has also purchased some L-Band (1452-1492MHz) frequency spectrum from Qualcomm. This could be beneficial for its mobile network, but isn’t currently in use, as aside from anything else smartphones and network equipment will first need to be tuned to L-band frequencies.
The information contained on this website has been written to assist our readers. We do not represent Three or speak on its behalf and are entirely independent of Three.
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