UK's EE 4G launch set for October 30th

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The UK network EE (Orange and T-Mobile) will launch their 4G LTE network on October 30th in 10 cities. The operator expects to reach a third of the UK's population with 4G coverage by the end of the year, and aims to achieve 98% coverage by 2014. 

The Nokia Lumia 920 and 820 are among the launch handsets, but EE's press release notes that it is only the 4G network launch date that is being confirmed today. Although no formal announcement has been made it is likely the Nokia Lumia 920 and Nokia Lumia 820 will be made available in mid-November, in line with other European markets.

Olaf Swantee, CEO of EE, said:

"We are delighted to announce that the official launch of our new customer brand, EE, offering the UK’s first superfast mobile 4G and fibre broadband service, will take place on the 30th October 2012. This is a significant milestone for the United Kingdom, and for the people and businesses of our country who will now be able to enjoy the huge advantages of superfast 4G technology for the first time."

LTE offers faster data speeds than 3G. EE says that its LTE network will be up to five times faster than current 3G speeds. The exact benefits will depends on network architecture and congestion, but there's no doubt that LTE, where available, will offer faster data speeds than current 3G networks.

The Lumia 920 and 820 are notable for being the only Windows Phone 8 devices announced thus far that support European LTE bands. The Samsung ATIV S, HTC 8X, and HTC 8S were all announced as WCDMA (HSDPA+ / 3.5G) handsets, although it is likely there will be LTE variants available in the future, especially for the US market (e.g. HTC 8X on Verizon). 

Both the Nokia Lumia 920 and Nokia Lumia 820 support five LTE bands: I (2100), III (1800), VII (2600), VIII (900), and XX (800); offering flexibility and, potentially, the ability to roam on multiple LTE networks (though not in the US).

Nokia Lumia WP8

Source / Credit: EE