Last updated: 20 March 2014
It has been available in South Korea for years and in Norway since 2009. Japan launched LTE in 2011 and the US has been shouting about its own successes in delivering LTE these past few years too. Now, 4G is finally also available in the UK.
A 4G mobile network, the successor to 3G, launched officially in the UK last October, led by mobile operator joint venture EE. And, we’re happy to announce that our technology is powering the UK’s first 4G mobile network and the first large-scale LTE deployment in Europe.
With ever more smartphones and tablets infiltrating our daily personal and professional lives, there are more possibilities to consume information and increase our data usage wherever we are. Initially, it was the devices that weren’t compatible with data streaming and consumption of data-rich services such as high definition video, live TV, music or multi-user gaming. Then it was the networks that couldn’t buffer data in time or download quickly enough unless you were on a WiFi connection. With a 4G mobile network, however, the options are endless.
The technology gives consumers the opportunity to ‘experience “blinding speed” mobile interactions, thanks to short response times (low latency), and loading speed up to five times faster than 3G’.
Our role in this is helping EE to meet the commercial and technical challenges of 4G with our Advanced Connectivity solution – UpTeq LTE – which supports the back-end applications and the card software functionalities.
We have prior experience of supporting LTE deployments in Japan and the US, so we’re very excited about the 4G roll-out in the UK. There has been much skepticism and operators have taken their time, but it’s here now. Power to smartphone and tablet users, wherever they are.
