Everything Everywhere, the merger between Orange and T-Mobile, has announced plans to construct a 4G LTE mobile network in the UK this year, ahead of anybody else.
The company is currently carrying out some very small trials of 4G technology in Cornwall, but has now announced plans to install the relevant infrastructure in major cities this year to further the trial.
It’s great news for us at Gadget Helpline, and others in the South-West, as the company plans to first bring the super-fast tech to the city of Bristol in April. The new 1800MHz spectrum will provide ultra-fast mobile internet speeds, ideal for the ever-expanding smartphone market, tablets and mobile broadband dongles.
4G LTE (Long Term Evolution) can be broadcast in two frequency bands; 800MHz and 1800MHz. The trial that is currently taking place in Cornwall uses the 800MHz spectrum, which Everything Everywhere says is ideal for rural areas with a more sparse population. They’re now looking to move on to trialling the other band, 1800MHz, in densely populated cities such as Bristol.
While it all seems to be full steam ahead for the network, they have to wait on approval from the UK’s regulatory body Ofcom. Provided they can get this to go through, the network plans to rollout 4G for its customers before the end of 2012. This doesn’t mean coverage for the whole of the UK though, and as with the 4G development in the States, the network will likely add coverage to major cities one by one, or in small groups.
To give you an idea of how 4G LTE technology will improve the way you use the internet on the go – speeds are roughly 50% faster than the current standard which is 3G, which should bring mobile browsing pretty much up to the level of an average home broadband speeds when you’ve got full signal.
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