By Telecom Lead Team: Everything Everywhere, a mobile
joint venture between Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom, plans to begin 4G
LTE services at the end of this year. It will be the first operator to announce
a U.K. rollout of high speed mobile broadband services.
Everything Everywhere, which has applied to regulators to
run the faster services, will start the commercial service on a small scale for
mobile broadband access before expanding the offering, Chief Executive Officer
Olaf Swantee said yesterday in London.
Subject to regulatory approval by springtime, Everything
Everywhere will be in a position to roll out 4G services before the end of the
year. The service will help the U.K.” to get back in line with other markets,”
Swantee said.
Everything Everywhere will move ahead of Vodafone Group
and Telefonica, which are waiting for more frequencies to become available
before starting their own services. The carriers are seeking to offer
high-speed services to persuade subscribers to use more applications on
smartphones.
British regulator Ofcom told Everything Everywhere last
month that its application to use its existing spectrum would be considered in
the first quarter of 2012. The watchdog has already granted a trial license,
according to media reports.
France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom merged their U.K.
operations in 2010, creating the country’s largest mobile operator by
leapfrogging Telefonica’s O2 unit. The deal took the U.K. from five
full-service mobile operators to four, in line with Italy, Spain and Germany.
Hutchison Whampoa’s 3 unit will also have access to the
new services as part of its existing agreement with the operator.