UK 4G to launch everywhere by summer 2013

4G auction brought forward so the government can get its hands on your cash sooner.

Ofcom, the government body that’s stopping you getting your hands on 4G, has managed to convince everyone involved that getting on with the 4G radio spectrum auction sooner rather than later will benefit everyone.

It turns out giving the newly formed network EE (Everything Everywhere) access to part of the 4G spectrum helped O2, Vodafone and Three put aside their legal issues with the auction.

This means that everyone can opt to pay for 4G high-speed access by summer 2013. Ofcom had originally pegged the auction for February or March 2013, but the changes mean it can happen now.

4GEE by gum

As for EE (Everything Everywhere), it has announced the launch date for its 4G service will be 30 October. While there’s no word on pricing as yet word on the street is that existing Orange and T-Mobile customers could get 4G access as a bolt-on for as little as £3 a month. We’d assume with a low data cap.

EE has also firmed up its plans for its 4G model range with the Samsung Galaxy S3 LTE, the HTC One XL and the Huawei Ascend P1 LTE available today on Orange or T-Mobile. We’ve been told many Apple iPhone 5 users are already seeing an “EE” symbol as their network provider.

Pippa Dunn, chief marketing officer for EE boasted, “Not only can they use their phones straight away on the UK’s biggest 3G network, but they can also have the opportunity to be amongst the first to benefit from superfast 4G mobile speeds when we launch our EE brand”

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