Smartphone users frustrated by slow download speeds could see some relief after Ofcom said it would allow mobile operators to turn up wireless signals.
The decision comes after requests by the five 3G licence holders - O2, Orange, T-Mobile, Three and Vodafone - and a consultation process that looked into the potential health implications of a boost in signal strength.
Ofcom initially proposed a 10% increase to the maximum in-band power to provide headroom for future 3G technologies, but dropped the signal back after operators raised concerns the jump had not been fully tested. It will now be raised from 62dBm to 65dBm per carrier.
According to Ofcom, the power boost has the potential to provide benefits for customers through improved voice capacity, data throughput and signal availability by making more effective use of currently available base station technology.
Predicting the effect of boosting the strength of mobile signals is difficult, but according to experts it could have a big impact in some areas.
Users could see more bars, which would enable higher download speeds, or get a signal in areas that are currently deadspots.
"If the carriers boosted signals in every base station by 5% it would have a significant impact, with more bars of reception or reception where it may not be available," said Kory Zelickson, technical director at Mobile Repeater, which provides signal boosting services for homes and businesses in weak signal areas. "The downlink corresponds to getting more bars and getting data faster."
However, Zelickson stressed that there was no simple equation for working out how the changes would impact end users and said not everyone would see a performance boost because of the changes.
"A lot of it has to do with the geographical placement of masts and where people are in the cell," he said. "They might be in a dip or screened behind trees and then a signal increase might not have so much of an impact."
Despite the potential throughput improvements, the boost would only impact download speeds, with upload rates remaining the same.
“Increasing base-station (BS) power would only help downstream data - upstream data from the handset to the BS would not be helped at all,” said the Ofcom paper. “This reflects the asymmetric nature of data services, which are usually arranged to provide greater download data rates than upload data rates.”
Signal strength remains below health threshold
Inevitably there were concerns from the public over health issues, but both Ofcom and health officials said there was no evidence that the boost would cause a risk as signal strength would still fall below international recommendations.
“The increase in maximum emitted power is likely to cause some heightened concern about exposures,” the Health Protection Agency said.
“HPA agrees that this small increase in maximum licensed power should not alter the fact that exposures at locations to which the public normally have access near base stations are well within guidelines.”
