4G Technology and Spectrum Auction

Unless this is actually a genuine alternative to landline slowband, what's the point?

Other than saying "Yay, I used up my monthly allowance in 2 minutes."
 
We test speeds on EE, the UK's first LTE network!

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Formerly known as Everything Everywhere, also known as the union of Orange and T-Mobile's UK networks, it's now going under the name EE and (finally) bringing LTE to the British Isles in the coming weeks. We decided to see what that means by running Speed Test on the device -- and it's looking good. Upload speeds averaged around 20Mbps, while downloads peaked around 38Mbps -- consistently above 25Mbps. If you're wondering what this means for how you'll normally use your phone, Angry Birds's 20MB-plus app download rocketed down from the new network and this very site appeared in an instant. See for yourself after the break.
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Tasty speeds :D
 
It was always going to be those cities I'm afraid as that's where they always rollout new tech first (except Derby, must be a T-Mo thing), those cities also are where the network bandwidth is highest too, they also are the parts of the country where the ROI is quickest.

From what I've heard from a friend at EE RogueBlade it's going to be enabled for all users but considering the handset support is limited currently this is the bottleneck. iPhone 5 launch timing couldn't have been better for them though.

EDIT: I'm wrong, EE are saying you need an "EE Contract" to have LTE. Kinda crap :(
 
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More from Everything Everywhere:

A new company, a new network, a new brand

•EE network switched on today

•EE’s new customer brand to launch in the coming weeks with pioneering superfast 4G LTE mobile services and fibre broadband

•EE’s superfast 4G service to launch in 16 cities by Christmas, covering 20 million people – a third of the population. Nationwide 4G roll out to accelerate through 2013 with 98% of UK population covered in 2014

•EE’s superfast fibre broadband service to reach more than 11 million households and businesses by end of year

•Over 700 EE-branded stores to open – more than any other operator
•Orange and T-Mobile customers to benefit from the UK’s biggest and best mobile network, and more stores than ever before
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With superfast 4G mobile, customers will be able to:

•Access the web on the go without waiting
•Download high-definition movies in minutes
•Watch live TV on the move without buffering
•Play live multiplayer games on the go
•Download large email attachments quicker than ever
•Make high quality video calls on the move

Four cities – London, Bristol, Cardiff and Birmingham – are switched on today for the company’s engineers to begin live testing and systems integration, in readiness for the customer launch.

EE’s 4G network will cover a third of the UK population in 2012 – over 20 million people – and customers on the EE brand will also have access to the largest 3G network in the UK outside of the 4G cities. Further towns, cities and rural areas, will follow rapidly with 2013 population coverage to reach 70%, with 98% covered by 2014.

EE’s 2012 launch schedule will see 16 areas of the country connected to 4G by Christmas – the UK’s four capitals and twelve further major cities. The 16 cities are London, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Derby, Glasgow,
Hull, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham, Sheffield and Southampton.
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EE will offer a range of state-of-the-art devices alongside its superfast 4G mobile network with more to be announced shortly. Today, EE confirmed it is to launch the following 4G devices:

Samsung Galaxy SIII LTE – with a 4.8 inch HD Super AMOLED display, you can watch videos on your mobile like never before. Innovative Smart Stay automatically recognises when you are looking at the phone, maintaining a bright display for
continued viewing pleasure.

Nokia Lumia 920 – flagship Nokia Windows Phone 8 smartphone. Take bright, blur-free photos and videos in any light conditions with PureView technology – Optical Image Stabilisation and Carl Zeiss lens and view on a 4.5” PureMotion HD+ capacitive display.

Nokia Lumia 820 – colourful, stylish, innovative design, with a 4.3 OLED WVGA screen. Capture great photos and movies with an 8MP Auto Focus camera, with Carl Zeiss optics and dual LED flash. Charge wirelessly without plugging in using a Wireless Charging Shell.

The HTC One XL – high quality entertainment and precision navigation combine in this handset, thanks to a large 4.7” HD touchscreen display. Full HD video, and front and rear facing camera let you capture crisp, vivid photos and movies in high
quality wherever you are.

Huawei Ascend P1 LTE – a powerhouse dual-core processor is packed in to this handset’s slim design. Take stunningly clear images or HD videos on an 8MP autofocus camera with LED flash and playback on the 4.3” high-res touchscreen.


Huawei E589 Mobile WiFi – hook up to five devices to the EE 4G network, making your existing phone, laptop or digital screen superfast even if they’re not 4G. Long battery life of up to 10 hours, enjoy 4G wireless broadband anytime, anywhere.

Huawei E392 Mobile Broadband stick – download and upload documents and files in super quick time on the go with this device. Make your laptop mobile and superfast, by hooking it up to the EE network. You’ll stay compatible with 3G too and seamlessly switch to the optimal connection.

EE’s superfast fibre broadband service will launch at the same time to complement the company’s superfast 4G mobile service. It will be available to 11 million households and businesses by the end of the year reaching two thirds of UK households and usinesses by the end of 2014.
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Source
 
PiKe said:
Because it's actually needed here, it's not needed in London.
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The lake district was also the test site so all they have to do to enable full launch up there is upgrade a few transmitters, the other infrastructure is already there.
 
TheVoice said:
I'm not really convinced that the networks have the underlying infrastructure in place to make 4G worthwhile anyway.
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Indeed, there are big questions over the backhaul capacity. LTE may have a lot more air interface capacity, but how do you backhaul that from a remote rural location?
 
Sin_Chase said:
While things might be moving now I still see 4G as a relevant technology years down the line, not now.

I can stream TV from my phone now and tethered pull down up to 5MBit/Sec. Why do I need 50Mbit/Sec on my mobile? I don't. I for one will not at all be jumping over to 4G as I see no tangible benefit over the existing network speeds available now.
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Indeed - I think the media/marketing message is mixed up at the moment. LTE reduces the costs per bit for the operator. Allows more capacity from the same infrastructure/spectrum. That's where the drive is coming from, not from offering user data rates of 50mbps+. It doesn't necessarily follow that the user experience will be very different at all. It might just be that where on HSPA a site could support half a dozen 5mbps users, with LTE it's support a couple of dozen.
 
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