England is falling behind the US, Asian nations and the rest of Europe in the installation of 4G LTE networks. The 800MHz spectrum has been cleared for the purpose, but a scuffle between carries and regulator Ofcom has caused numerous delays in the auctioning of the spectrum. All major mobile networks, Everything Everywhere (under the Orange and T-Mobile brands), O2, Vodafone and Three, have begun testing LTE in small areas across the country. The auction that will lead to a full scale rollout around the nation is currently slated for 2013.
However, even this date seems in question. Despite efforts by Everything Everywhere, deploying LTE technology on the 1800MHz band, constant squabbling between carriers appears to be holding back their effort. Everything Everywhere’s final decision on their 1800MHz plans falling back from April to May, 2013 seems quite a long way off, while the actual introduction of 4G networks in the UK seem a lot more distant.
