O2 And Vodafone 4G Set For Birmingham, Coventry, Leicester, Nottingham and Sheffield

O2 and Vodafone 4G will be available in five more cities as the two operators continue their respective rollouts of LTE, having launched their services on the same day last month.

Until now, O2 4G had only been available in London, Leeds and Bradford, while Vodafone 4G had been restricted to the capital, but now Birmingham, Coventry, Leicester, Nottingham and Sheffield will be added to both operators’ 4G networks.

Vodafone promises to extend coverage to Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester by the end of October, while O2 will serve those three cities, as well as Edinburgh, Liverpool and Newcastle by the end of the year.

UK 4G coverage

“We’re giving people in Birmingham, Coventry, Leicester, Nottingham and Sheffield a reason to get excited about ultrafast 4G,” said Guy Laurence, CEO of Vodafone

“We’re also giving busy businesses in these cities a boost by helping them take their office with them when they’re out and about. Residents in Liverpool, Glasgow and Manchester can also look forward to Vodafone ultrafast 4G launching in their city by the end of next month.”

O2 says it will continue the fastest network rollout in its history and is spending £1.5 million on its infrastructure every day as it seeks to cover 98 percent of the population in 2G, 3G and 4G.

“We’re excited to be bringing our 4G network to five new cities,” says Ronan Dunne, CEO of Telefonica UK. “The full potential of 4G is as yet unexplored, but what we can be sure of is that it will allow for a whole new world of opportunity that people are now ready for. Over half of our customers say they use more data than two years ago, as can be seen by the 79% increase in Coventry alone over the last 12 months.

“Given this trend, there is no doubt that 4G will transform our lives, be it as consumers, in business or through public sector services.”

Despite today’s announcements, O2 and Vodafone still trails EE in terms of 4G coverage, with the latter now reaching 117 towns and 60 percent of the UK population, having launched ten months before both its rivals.

Three is the only major UK operator not to offer a 4G service, but it will begin its rollout of LTE in December and promises not to charge customers extra for the privilege.

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