UK’s first 4G mobile network launching Sept 11

PanARMENIAN.Net - The UK’s first 4G mobile network will launch in Britain Sept 11, The Daily Telegraph reports.

Everything Everywhere, owner of T-Mobile and Orange, has been given permission to reuse its existing mobile phone spectrum for new, faster 4G networks. In trials for rival operator O2, users got download speeds of up to 100MBPS, and American users routinely report 20MBPS download speeds in commercial deployments. Existing 3G mobile networks struggle to deliver 5MBPS.

Everything Everywhere will launch a new brand, purely to deliver 4G services and related products. Sources say its name will be every bit as outlandish at its parent company, but the service announced will go far beyond initial expectations.

While previous speculation had suggested that a very limited area of the UK would be covered for mobile broadband, in fact today’s announcements, at London’s Science Museum, are now expected to include details of mobile phones and broadband dongles. The coverage area is set to be “widespread” within a year and significant in major cities by the end of 2012, sources said.

The first devices are likely to include Nokia’s new Lumia 920, and could also include Apple’s new iPhone 5. Details of which radio frequencies the new iPhone uses will be crucial however, as Everything Everywhere only has access to spectrum that broadcasts on 1800MHz.

The iPhone is expected to be announced and be a ‘pentaband’ device, meaning it can use five different radio frequencies. If one of the frequencies offered is the 1800MHz device that is currently available solely to Everything Everywhere, owners of T-Mobile and Orange, then it would become the only company in the UK able to offer the speeds of 4G.