— Assambleya

The Beatles’ back catalogue is finally available on iTunes, after years of negotiations.

It will mean that for the first time consumers will be able to purchase some of the Fab Four’s most popular songs via the store.

Apple and record label EMI have been in talks for years about getting the catalogue online.

Apple chief executive and Beatles fan Steve Jobs said it had «been a long and winding road to get here».

«We love the Beatles and are honoured and thrilled to welcome them to iTunes,» he said.

Sir Paul McCartney echoed his thoughts.

«It’s fantastic to see the songs we originally released on vinyl receive as much love in the digital world as they did the first time around,» he said.

Ringo Starr added: «I’m particularly glad to no longer be asked when the Beatles are coming to iTunes.»

Trademark dispute

But not everyone was convinced it was such a big deal.

Writing in his blog, James Last, an analyst with research firm Forrester, said it was not what the younger generation of digital music fans craved.

«The fact that securing the content of a band old enough to be most young music fans’ grandfathers is a sad reflection of the state of the digital music market,» he said.

«The digital music market needs new music products, not yesteryear’s hits repackaged,» he added.

For years The Beatles’ music label Apple Corps was involved in a bitter trademark dispute with Apple the computer company. The dispute was finally settled in 2007.

Earlier in the year Sir Paul McCartney hinted that part of the delay in getting a deal with Apple was down to EMI.

Beatles USB

The Beatles catalogue has been a noticeable absence from the iTunes store despite the fact that solo works of members of the band are on sale there.

There have been forays into the digital world for the band.

Last year EMI released limited edition apple-shaped USB drives containing The Beatles’ studio albums as digital files.

And in September 2009, The Beatles: Rock Band video game was released.

Even though the group formed around 50 years ago, they remain one of the top-selling bands in the world.

Neilsen SoundScan reported that they have sold more than 30 million albums in the past decade.

EMI has said that with worldwide sales of one billion albums, the Beatles are the top-selling band in music history.

The deal with Apple comes amid uncertainty at EMI.

The company’s owner, private equity firm Terra Firma Capital Partners, owes millions in debt payments to Citigroup, which helped bankroll the purchase of EMI in 2007.

Ben Rumley from Enders Analysis says the Beatles’ arrival is as important for EMI as it is for consumers.

«EMI will make some money selling The Beatles once again,» he told BBC 6 Music.

«The Beatles were about 10% of their sales in the US last year, excluding digital, so having The Beatles available online can clearly be a good thing. They’re very good at exploiting them.»

The iTunes music store opened in 2003 and is now the largest music retailer in the world.

The Beatles albums are available for purchase and download for £10.99 each, double albums for £17.99 and individual songs for 99p.

A box set, containing all 13 remastered studio albums is available for £125. It includes the Beatles’ very first US concert in its entirety.

© bbc.co.uk

Ofcom’s chief executive Ed Richards has laid out the timetable which will pave the way for next-generation mobile services in the UK.

The airwaves that will enable 4G networks will be auctioned off in the first half of 2012, Mr Richards said.

It means the spectrum will become available from 2013.

The auction was originally earmarked for 2009 but was delayed because of legal action by mobile firms.

Mr Richards announced the timetable at the FT World Telecoms Conference.

Level playing field

He warned that «further litigation against the government or regulator will jeopardise this timetable».

Mobile operators have been arguing over the distribution of existing spectrum.

Ofcom had originally planned to redistribute spectrum allocated to O2 and Vodafone, prompting the two operators to launch legal action against the regulator.

Historically the 900MHz slice of spectrum has belonged exclusively to O2 and Vodafone because they were the only two mobile operators on the market when it was handed out.

Ofcom dropped its plans to share out its spectrum, following the merger between T-Mobile and Orange.

«In the light of the merger, there was not such an unlevel playing field,» said Ovum analyst Matthew Howett.

It prompted Vodafone and O2 to drop their legal action, paving the way for the auctions to go ahead.

«There is still the threat of legal action but operators are more interested in getting this over and done with,» said Mr Howett.

More capacity

The auction will see two chunks of the spectrum – the 800MHz and 2.6GHz bands – sold off.

Both have great value to operators.

The 800MHz slice – which has been freed up by the switchover to digital TV – allows mobile signals to travel over greater distances, making it invaluable in the search to find ways of bringing broadband to rural areas.

The higher capacity 2.6GHz band will be more useful in towns and cities where lots of users require services.

The delay in the sale of spectrum means that the UK will be behind other countries in offering services. Germany has already auctioned off its digital dividend spectrum and others are planning to do so soon.

For consumers 4G or LTE (Long Term Evolution) services will mean more capacity on the networks.

«They will have a more enjoyable experience using mobile broadband,» said Mr Howett.

The popularity of smartphones has meant an explosion in demand for mobile data.

It could mean even next-generation networks run out of capacity, thinks Stephen Rayment, chief technology officer of BelAir Networks.

«Mobile data traffic is already on track to exceed the capacity that will be available in forthcoming LTE and 4G networks. Consequently, buying new spectrum is no longer a speculative move for mobile operators, it’s an absolute necessity,» he said.

Despite the demand for new networks, Mr Howett predicts the spectrum will sell for a lot less than its 3G equivalent which raised £22bn for the Treasury when it was sold in 2000.

© bbc.co.uk