EE to Launch 4G Mobile Services in 16 UK Cities in 2012

 

Everything Everywhere, which will now be known as just EE, will continue the rollout into the new year, and aims to provide 4G to 98% of the UK by 2014.

4G coverage in London, Birmingham, Cardiff and Bristol is currently being tested ahead of launching in "weeks".

Rivals have voiced concerns that EE had been given an unfair headstart by launching first.

Other cities to get the high-speed connectivity are Belfast, Derby, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Hull, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Nottingham, Newcastle, Sheffield and Southampton.

The news that 4G will be available in 16 cities by Christmas will be seen as good for the UK which has already fallen behind other countries in terms of next generation mobile.

Meanwhile, Everything Everywhere is as keen to promote its new EE brand as the 4G network it will run.

Chief executive Olaf Swantee admitted he had never loved the clunky Everything Everywhere moniker although he refused to sound the death knell for Orange and T-Mobile as individual brands.

But all existing T-Mobile and Orange shops across the country will be rebranded EE in due course.

Consumers of course won't care how it is branded - as long as it delivers faster, better services.

4G mobile technology will mean all of these locations will benefit from improved network access speeds, even indoors.

Speaking at the event, London Mayor Boris Johnson said: "I barely understand it, but information will spout unstoppably from these gizmos.

"It will bring huge advantages to anyone living or working in London."

Further rollout could prove a boon to rural areas where fixed line broadband speeds are poor.

EE will offer several handsets to use with the service. Within the year, these will be Samsung's Galaxy S III LTE; HTC's One XL and Huawei's Ascend P1 LTE.

The company will also offer Nokia's Lumia 820 and Lumia 920 - the latter of which the company has as an exclusive deal.

In addition, other devices will be launched to allow customers to connect existing equipment - such as a laptop - to the 4G network.

"4G will bring a more reliable connection," EE chief executive Olaf Swantee told the BBC.

"When you see that it can do so much more than the current network, people will have a great appetite for it."

The use of 4G will create a huge demand for data, he said - meaning networks would need to be updated.

"Our networks can cope for now but they are not future-proofed."

However, he refused to be drawn on media reports that Ofcom had brokered a peace deal between operators who were said to be angry at EE's early access to the 4G spectrum.

But he did say that threats of legal action were shortsighted.

"Stop using lawyers. We need to move on and get 4G infrastructure in place."