Everything Everywhere has announced that it is set to roll out its super-fast 4G mobile network in the UK by the end of the year, clearly giving the company, made up from Orange and T-Mobile, an edge over its Vodafone, O2 and 3 rivals.
Offering speeds up to five times faster than 3G, the brand new 4G network, or LTE as it’s also known, allows you to watch TV on demand on your smartphone or tablet without buffering and should seriously diminish download times.
Everything Everywhere is claiming that it will offer up to 70 per cent coverage in the UK by 2013, rising to a respectable 98 per cent by the end of 2014. No pricing for the service has yet been announced, so we’ll have to wait and see whether it’s an affordable service, or simply one for those with deep pockets.
The 4G service is already being trialled in London, Birmingham, Cardiff and Bristol and will be added to by the end of the year in Edinburgh, Belfast, Leeds, Sheffield, Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Belfast, Leeds, Sheffield, Newcastle, Southampton, Hull, Nottingham and Derby.
Along with announcing the imminent arrival of 4G, Everything Everywhere also took the opportunity to announce a new streamlined name for itself, and will in the future simply be known as EE.
If you’re wondering which handsets will be able to handle 4G here in the UK, then you’ll be happy to know the Nokia Lumia 920 and 820, Samsung Galaxy S III LTE, Huawei Ascend P1 LTE and HTC One XL will all be among the first to offer the service. It’s also expected that the new Apple iPhone 5 will be 4G enabled.
What do you think, will you be signing up for EE LTE service when it hits? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.