UK network Three has promised to offer super speedy 4G services at no extra cost to the customer, which is far from the case with the UK’s only 4G network right now, EE.
Three is currently bidding in Ofcom’s 4G spectrum auction and apparently feels confident that it will be winning its chance to launch a 4G network later this year. Although the auction is still running and the successful bidders are yet to be announced, Three CEO Dave Dyson has issued a statement to spur confidence in the UK’s largest 3G network.
“As we add the next wave of technology to our Ultrafast network, we’ve listened to our customers and thought long and hard about the right way to do it. We don’t want to limit Ultrafast services to a select few based on a premium price and we’ve decided our customers will get this service as standard.”
Right now the UK has one 4G network and as such the prices are premium – £31 per month being the lowest tariff, which scores you just 500MB of data. Three says that customers won’t see a price hike when 4G comes along, and so you’ll be paying the same £34/£36 per month, only with the prospect of blazing fast 4G thrown into the mix.
Three hasn’t been able to confirm when its 4G network will launch, although it has given a vague “later this year”, which is when we’re expecting a surge in new 4G networks here in the UK.
We’re expecting to hear from Ofcom regarding the successful bidders early March time, with the first wave of new 4G networks expected to launch early summer.