The UK '4G' LTE Smartphone Launch Lineup from EE (Everything Everywhere) Network...
FauxG LTE is coming to the UK this year in surplus (and/or) refarmed 1800 MHz GSM spectrum where C&W and USA Wests 'Mercury One2One' which became T-Mobile-UK and Orange originally pioneered the PCN-1800 (GSM-1800) personal communications mobile wireless networks and Over-the Air (OTA) activation and personalization of mobile wireless devices in Europe in late 1993.
The 4G launch is coupled with Everything Everywhere's rebrand into simply "EE"
Everything Everywhere is a 50-50 joint venture between Deutsche Telekom and France Télécom and was formed in 2010 through the merger of their respective T-Mobile and Orange mobile wireless and ISP businesses. Headquartered in London they are now the largest mobile wireless network operator in the UK with ~28 million customers and they compete with Vodafone and O2. Hutchison Whampoa's Three ('3') is (or is not) a 4th competitor. HW and T-Mobile operate a JV for 3G services and '3' will evidently ride.
Everything Everywhere's website is here ...
everythingeverywhere.com
>> EE to launch 4G mobile services in 16 UK cities in 2012
The UK's first fourth generation (4G) mobile service will launch in 16 UK cities before the end of the year.
BBC News
11 September 2012
bbc.co.uk
Everything Everywhere, which will now be known as just EE, will continue the LTE rollout into the new year, and aims to provide 4G to 98% of the UK by 2014.
4G coverage in London, Birmingham, Cardiff and Bristol is currently being tested ahead of launching in "weeks". Rivals [Vodafone and 02] have voiced concerns that EE had been given an unfair headstart by launching first.
Other cities to get the high-speed connectivity are Belfast, Derby, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Hull, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Nottingham, Newcastle, Sheffield and Southampton.
'Spout unstoppably'
4G mobile technology will mean all of these locations will benefit from improved network access speeds, even indoors.
Speaking at the event, London Mayor Boris Johnson said: "I barely understand it, but information will spout unstoppably from these gizmos.
"It will bring huge advantages to anyone living or working in London."
Further rollout could prove a boon to rural areas where fixed line broadband speeds are poor.
EE will offer several handsets to use with the service. Within the year, these will be Samsung's Galaxy S III LTE; HTC's One XL and Huawei's Ascend P1 LTE.
The company will also offer Nokia's Lumia 820 and Lumia 920 - the latter of which the company has as an exclusive deal.
In addition, other devices will be launched to allow customers to connect existing equipment - such as a laptop - to the 4G network.
"4G will bring a more reliable connection," EE chief executive Olaf Swantee told the BBC.
"When you see that it can do so much more than the current network, people will have a great appetite for it."
The use of 4G will create a huge demand for data, he said - meaning networks would need to be updated.
"Our networks can cope for now but they are not future-proofed."
However, he refused to be drawn on media reports that Ofcom had brokered a peace deal between operators who were said to be angry at EE's early access to the 4G spectrum.
But he did say that threats of legal action were shortsighted.
"Stop using lawyers. We need to move on and get 4G infrastructure in place."
Legal wrangle
EE won permission to launch 4G services in an Ofcom ruling published on 21 August. In November 2011 it asked Ofcom for permission to run the high-speed data services over part of the radio spectrum it already uses for earlier generation technologies.
Rival networks are being forced to wait to launch their 4G services as they do not have any spare spectrum to use.
All operators will get a chance to buy spectrum to support 4G in 2013 when Ofcom runs an auction to divide up the radio frequencies reserved for these services.
The threat of legal action has delayed the auction and led to the UK trailing many other nations that already have fast-speed 4G services up and running.
The day after EE's launch, Apple is holding an event at which it is thought to be unveiling the next version of its iPhone.
This will also be able to handle 4G but it is not yet clear if it will work on the frequencies that EE's early services will use.
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Analysis [by Jane Wakefield: Technology reporter; BBC News
The news that 4G will be available in 16 cities by Christmas will be seen as good for the UK which has already fallen behind other countries in terms of next generation mobile.
But rivals to Everything Everywhere will be hopping mad that the firm has been allowed a head start while they must wait until the airwaves auction next year.
Meanwhile, Everything Everywhere is as keen to promote its new EE brand as the 4G network it will run.
Chief executive Olaf Swantee admitted he had never loved the clunky Everything Everywhere moniker although he refused to sound the death knell for Orange and T-Mobile as individual brands.
But all existing T-Mobile and Orange shops across the country will be rebranded EE in due course.
Consumers of course won't care how it is branded - as long as it delivers faster, better services.
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Personal Nostalgia and Trivia ...
Below is the original Mercury One2One data enabled (for balance checking et al) 'Barclay's Special' front flip by Motorola ...
... which was also my own first mobile wireless handphone purchased in November 1994 (but which was only usable in the UK and back home I was still using a BAM carphone with transceiver in the trunk).
The full-sized SIM for the phone ...
... was manufactured in DataCard's ISO-9000 certified Havant UK plastic ISO standard credit/debit card manufacturing facility and utilized an 8K Hitachi component masked by DataCard (US) and Cardinal (UK). Orga produced the SIM for Orange using (I believe) the same Hitachi component. OTA activation and personalization of the SIM enabled "Shrink Wrap Marketing" of mobile devices in retail stores for the 1st time and APC Sprint Spectrum utilized the capability when they launched the 1st all digital mobile wireless network in the US in November 1995. Gemplus provided the full-sized SIM enabling OTA activation and personalizastion for the original Sprint Spectrum Motorola and Ericsson phones. The IC for the 8K Sprint Spectrum SIMs with Gemplus' mask were fabricated for them by Siemens Semiconductor which later became Infineon.
The PCS-1900 (GSM-1900) Sprint Spectrum Motorola Flare 
purchased on the 1st day of Sprint Spectrum service and activated OTA on the ride back to my office was my 2nd mobile wireless handphone but it could only be used originally in the Baltimore/DC area. The colorful and originally) shrink wrapped boxes for the Barclay's Special, and the Flare along with their full-sized SIMs, charging cradles, and instruction manuals packed inside, are displayed on a shelf in my office. ###
- Eric - |
