Siminn, Iceland’s largest mobile operator, has signed a two-year deal with Ericsson to expand its 3G (WCDMA/HSPA) network into more rural areas using 900MHz spectrum. According to Ericsson, Siminn will become one of the world’s first operators to launch a WCDMA network in the 900MHz band. The spectrum is deemed particularly suitable for expanding mobile broadband into less populated areas as it offers improved radio-wave signal strengths at lower frequencies, providing greater reach than the 2100MHz band, the standard 3G spectrum band. It also offers improved indoor coverage in urban areas. Ericsson said it would be the sole supplier of WCDMA/HSPA radio access equipment and the GSM/WCDMA common core network. Siminn launched its 3G network – the first in Iceland – in the country’s capital, Reykjavik, in September 2007. At the time, the operator said it would aim to cover 60 percent of Iceland’s population in two and a half years.

The announcement that it is extending its network using 900MHz makes Siminn one of the first wave of operators to use the band for 3G. Finland’s Elisa claimed to launch the world’s first commercial WCDMA 900MHz network in November 2007, while French regulator Arcep has approved applications for the country’s mobile operators to do similar. Thailand’s Advanced Info Service (AIS) also commercially launched a 3G network in Chiang Mai using 900MHz. While organisations such as the GSM Association have called for the mobile industry to make greater use of 900MHz spectrum for 3G services, the process of refarming existing 2G spectrum in the band for 3G use has often caused controversy among the existing 2G spectrum holders, as happened recently in the UK. In the EU, the process is also affected by legislation that restricts use of the spectrum to 2G services only.