EE warns rival 4G operators to address “mobile video tsunami”

After the UK’s latest auction of spectrum for the delivery of 4G services fell short of Government revenue targets earlier today, successful bidder Everything Everywhere has warned that 2013 will be a critical year for operators to address the “mobile video tsunami” before it is too late.

Speaking to IP&TV News on Wednesday, Matt Stagg, Senior Manager of Network Strategy at Everything Everywhere (which was the second-highest bidder today, paying £588.9m for airways), was upbeat on the company’s prospects for building a mobile video ecosystem in the country.

“We have brought 4G to the UK, dragging the country from an industry laggard to a leadership position in just six months,” said Stagg. “From this position, EE will drive the development of an end-to-end mobile video ecosystem.”

The network strategist, who is speaking at the TV Connect 2013 event taking place in London this March, predicts that his company will achieve this in a number of ways, including looking at video separately from other Internet content, focusing on emerging mobile broadcast technologies, and supporting the progression in operator CDN federation.

Communications watchdog Ofcom currently predicts that 4G services will generate GB£ 20bn over the next decade.

The country’s four main mobile operators (Vodafone, EE, O2 and Orange) plus a division of BT paid £2.3bn ($3.5bn) in today’s auction – considerably lower than the £22.5bn paid in 2000 for 3G spectrum.

Stagg’s predictions can be read in full here.