EE is to double the speed of its 4G network in 10 cities this summer, giving the UK one of the fastest mobile internet services in the world.
Smartphones will be able to transmit high-definition video as fast as fibre optic wires when EE turns up the dial, with the theoretical speed rising to 130Mbps, leading to a top rate of 80Mbps outside of the laboratory, faster than any current application requires.
The move, made possible by doubling the amount of airwaves used to carry 4G, will put the UK well ahead of the US and on a level pegging with Japan. "We are ensuring that the UK remains at the forefront of the digital revolution," said the EE chief executive, Olaf Swantee. "Having already pioneered 4G here, we're now advancing the country's infrastructure again."
The improved service will initially be available in Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester and Sheffield.
Existing 4G speeds already allow three-dimensional map images to appear instantly as the user scrolls around the cityscape, video calls with crisp pictures and no sound delay, high-definition video to be sent back to the studio by broadcasters, and the London air ambulance service to transmit vital data on patients back to the hospital before the helicopter lands.
Doubling the speeds would make all these activities faster, but developers have yet to come up with an application that would need all 80Mbps. "We don't know what the next killer app is, but our network is ready for it," said Swantee. The national obsession with smartphones and tablets appears to be firing demand for EE's faster service, despite its premium price. Its parent company owns three networks: Orange and T-Mobile, which offer slower 3G speeds, and EE, which uses 4G.
Source: The Guardian
