It’s official: 4G will finally come to the UK on October 30th.
EE, the UK’s first 4G network, has confirmed that it will bring 4G LTE connectivity to several major cities starting at the end of this month, with even more to be added before the end of the year.
Everything Everywhere did a spot of rebranding last month when it revealed its new EE brand, which will become the first network in the UK to provide 4G services, or “4GEE” has they like to call it. The network also launched the first three 4G smartphones to run on its network today: the Samsung Galaxy SIII LTE, the HTC One XL and the Huawei Ascend P1 LTE. The iPhone 5, which is already out, will also work on the new network.
Olaf Swantee, CEO of Everything Everywhere, confirmed the launch date via an email statement today:
“We are delighted to announce that the official launch of our new customer brand, EE, offering the UK’s first superfast mobile 4G and fibre broadband service, will take place on the 30th October 2012.
“This is a significant milestone for the United Kingdom, and for the people and businesses of our country who will now be able to enjoy the huge advantages of superfast 4G technology for the first time.
“We are very proud to be pioneering, innovating and leading our industry in launching 4G for our nation through our new EE brand.”
The first cities to benefit from 4G reception will be Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield and our good capital of London. As the year comes to a close EE hopes to also bring 4G to Belfast, Derby, Hull, Nottingham, Newcastle and Southampton.
The overall plan is to bring 4G coverage to 98% of the UK before the year 2017, which is what regulator Ofcom is demanding. EE will be offering 4G connectivity wirelessly for smartphones, dongles and tablets, as well as a fixed line broadband service for the home.
Now that we know the launch date for the network and the phones are available today, will you be going out to get one? Let us know your thoughts on our comments below or via our @Gadget_Helpline Twitter page or Official Facebook group.