Recent UK network sharing deals involving 3 and T-Mobile, and Orange and Vodafone, will become commonplace around the world according to a new report from Analysys. The report, featured on silicon.com, said emerging technologies such as femtocells and LTE will require substantial investment in the near term, and operators acting alone will not be able to deliver such investment quickly enough. Cost benefits from sharing infrastructure can also be considerable, it added. Dr Mark Heath, co-author of the report, said in a statement: “3G network coverage must be at least as good as 2G network coverage if mobile users are to be encouraged to migrate to 3G services, as operators’ experience in Japan has demonstrated. Most 3G networks are nowhere near this. Network sharing provides mobile operators with the means to accelerate 3G coverage rollout dramatically.”

At the end of last year T-Mobile and 3UK announced a network sharing agreement which they hope will generate cost savings of £2 billion over the next ten years. Earlier this week UK publication Mobile cited T-Mobile’s UK chief, Jim Hyde, as stating that the company’s network sharing deal with 3 will further drive mainstream adoption of mobile broadband services. “A great, dependable network will be critical, and our network share is key to that,” he told the publication. Other recent high-profile 3G network sharing deals include Vodafone and Orange UK, a venture first announced in February 2007. At the time both companies said the deal aimed to achieve a 20-30% reduction in capital and operating costs whilst improving mobile phone coverage in the UK. Vodafone has also shared a rural 3G rollout in Spain with Orange. Last month Mobile Business Briefing reported that O2 is currently not interested in sharing its networks, describing running its own network as “a unique selling point.”