The UK’s first 4G mobile network could have a rival sooner than it had expected, after O2 and Vodafone’s joint network has been given the go-ahead to get things started in Spring 2013.
Yesterday we heard that O2 and Vodafone’s proposal to team up and pool their infrastructure to provide a new 4G network had been approved by UK regulators. While the two networks will remain as separate competing entities, they will work together to bring another 4G service to the country.
Ofcom has successfully managed to secure some of the broadcasting frequencies required for 4G mobile networks, and will be auctioning them off early next year. O2 and Vodafone should be able to easily secure their slice of the spectrum, meaning that they could get a 4G network up and running by Spring 2013.
UK networks met yesterday to discuss the future of 4G in the UK, and despite O2 and Vodafone being rather vocal about their disliking of EE’s headstart, they’re now putting their heads together in order to bring competition to EE and new services for their customers. Both networks have agreed to refrain from taking legal action against EE, something they had both planned to do earlier in the year.
The frequencies required for other networks to broadcast 4G are being freed up by the digital switchover, which is why we have to wait as it’s still not quite finished. EE has been able to get a head start on everybody else as it is using a different frequency – 1800MHz – which it already owned some of. It’s sold off some of this spectrum to rival UK network Three, who is expected to launch its own 4G service later next year.
While O2 and Vodafone scramble to get a 4G service launched, EE has today launched its first three 4G smartphones in the UK, despite not actually having a 4G service running yet – but it’s coming soon. The Samsung Galaxy SIII LTE, HTC One XL and Huawei Ascend P1 LTE join the already-launched iPhone 5, with the Samsung Galaxy Note II LTE joining them later this month.
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