Everything Everywhere and BT have teamed up and announced that they will be carrying out the UK’s first ever trial of 4G LTE mobile broadband speeds for customers.
LTE, which stands for Long Term Evolution, is the next generation of mobile internet speeds. Faster than the existing “3G” signal, it is classed as “4G” and is already in places across the US. Mobile networks have been secretly trialling the service in the UK recently, but this will be the first trial available to customers in the UK.
The trial itself is classed as a “proof of concept” test, to make the UK aware of what future broadband speeds can be. Beginning this September and carrying on through until 2012, Everything Everywhere (Orange & T-Mobile) and BT will share their mobile and fixed broadband technologies to provide customers in rural Cornwall a superfast mobile connection. To be precise, the trial will take place in and around the St Newlyn East area of South Newquay, Cornwall, and will be available to its 100 or so residents.
Everything Everywhere say that the total coverage area for the 4G network is around 25 square kilometres. Why choose a tiny remote area in Cornwall for the test? The test area currently receives very poor mobile coverage and limited access to fixed line broadband.
If you live in or around the area of St Newlyn East then you can check out the official website for the trial here. 200 volunteers are needed and it’s completely free to participate. If you’re one of the lucky participants you’ll be given a shiny new 4G USB dongle to use, kindly provided by Huawei.
Based in the trial area? Let us know your thoughts on getting 4G network speeds! Alternatively, let us know via Twitter what your thoughts are on the UK getting a 4G LTE network.