UK internet service provider, EE (Everything Everywhere) has announced that it will launch its 4G network on October 30 in UK. There will be 10 cities enclosed in an initial rollout, with another 6 to be combined by the end of this year.
Chief Marketing Officer of EE, Pippa Dunn said: “We’re delighted to now be offering our customers a range of 4G ready smartphones to choose from. 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 on October 30th”.
The ten lucky cities enclosed in the first rollout are Birmingham, Leeds, Bristol, Liverpool, Cardiff, London, Edinburgh, Manchester, Glasgow, and Sheffield, with Belfast, Derby, Hull, Nottingham, Newcastle, and Southampton to follow.
According to EE, its 4G network will be able to cover 16 cities this year and it aims to offer 4G to 98% of the UK population by 2014.
EE has also announced that the first 4G-ready smartphone on its network will go on sale today. EE showed off its 4G network weeks ago, but because of the problems with rival operators, it had not revealed a launch date.
EE, UK’s largest communications company, will have its 4G network built upon the combined Orange/T-Mobile infrastructure, functioning on the 1,800MHz spectrum.
4G networks will allow downloads up to five times faster than the existing 3G infrastructure, but work only on compatible hardware. The provider has confirmed that 4G devices from Samsung, Nokia, Huawei and more (likely Apple’s iPhone 5) will be available soon for the new service. So far these devices have been confirmed: Nokia Lumia 920, Nokia Lumia 820, Samsung GALAXY S III, HTC One XL and Huawei Ascend P1 LTE.
But EE has not mentioned anything on its pricing.
Source: EE