Would You Go On The EE 4G Network? TechWeekEurope Poll

Everything Everywhere has launched its premium mobile brand. But do you think the EE 4G network is going to be ready for use?

4G services, based on the LTE standard, are faster than old-fashioned 3G, but Britain has had to wait for years before the announcement from EE was finally made yesterday. The service is not open to the public yet. Engineers are setting it up and testing it, but before Christmas users will be on it, EE has promised. We want to know – do you want to be one of those users?

EE 4G 4U?

The EE 4G announcement broke the log-jam of disputes over faster broadband services. Most of the UK’s spectrum has been issued under licences designated for a single technology, so 4G services have had to wait for new spectrum to be auctioned or for existing permisisons to be changed.

The 4G auction has been held up by endless bickering amongst operators , but is finally scheduled to happen at the end of this year, assuming the permanently-disgruntled O2 and Vodafone don’t dream up another legal way to shoot themselves in the foot.

Now Ofcom has allowed EE to offer 4G on existing spectrum, on condition that it passes some of its spectrum on to Three, which is likely to launch its 4G network next year.

Obviously faster mobile broadband is a big attraction and some will jump on board whatever the price. The coverage plans have been laid out fairly clearly, so 16 cities will have some coverage by the end of the year – but only London will be fully covered at that point.

The phones on offer look promising , but full details of the contracts have not yet been released.

Our poll gives a range of reactions from “wow!” to “so what!”  – so let us know how you feel.

How much do you know about smartphones? Take our quiz