Ofcom OKs Orange, T-Mobile LTE in UK

UK regulator Ofcom has approved (PDF) Everything Everywhere's planned formal rollout of LTE in the UK. The pairing of Orange and T-Mobile can reuse its 1,800MHz spectrum from 2G to run its LTE. Its coverage will come on top of whatever frequencies Everything Everywhere gets from upcoming LTE auctions.

The first British LTE networks are expected to go live in 2013. Others may repurpose 1,800MHz as well, although the auction is focusing both on the lower 800MHz band and the higher 2,600MHz space.

The access won't let existing many existing North American LTE devices, including the new iPad and some Android hardware. Most of these run on the 700MHz, 1,700MHz, or 2,100MHz bands and would have to drop to 3G. Mainland carriers like Vodafone are more likely to share small pieces of spectrum.

LTE was first active in the US in fall 2010 and was followed several months later by AT&T. Sprint, T-Mobile, US Cellular, and MetroPCS either will or have been upgrading to the faster speeds. [via GigaOM]

By Electronista Staff

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