UK 4G roll out not until 2015 warns Ofcom

UK 4G roll out not until 2015 warns Ofcom
Oh Ofcom. Look at our disappointed little faces

The UK isn't set to enjoy 'wide availability' of 4G coverage until 2015, according to Ofcom's annual plan for 2012 to 2013.

Although some networks are set to land in 2013 and 2014, it's likely that the majority of us will be set to take advantage of the super speeds until the following year.

The UK's 4G roll out has been a bit of a shambles to date, peppered with tiffs between the big networks and delays to Ofcom's plans to auction the necessary spectrum.

Sold!

The auction itself was set to happen in early 2012, but has already been pushed back to the second quarter of the year, although Ofcom still hopes it will happen before June 2012 is out.

Everything Everywhere and O2 have both begun their trials of 4G LTE data connections, but it comes as cold comfort to those of us jealously eyeing the mobile data speeds of our American and Japanese cousins.

Either way, it looks as though we're in for another three years of casting green-eyed looks at countries that already have LTE and 4G networks who get to play with faster, higher-spec smartphones and tablets while we languish here on our patchy-at-best 3G networks.

From Engadget via Gizmodo

News Editor (UK)

Former UK News Editor for TechRadar, it was a perpetual challenge among the TechRadar staff to send Kate (Twitter, Google+) a link to something interesting on the internet that she hasn't already seen. As TechRadar's News Editor (UK), she was constantly on the hunt for top news and intriguing stories to feed your gadget lust. Kate now enjoys life as a renowned music critic – her words can be found in the i Paper, Guardian, GQ, Metro, Evening Standard and Time Out, and she's also the author of 'Amy Winehouse', a biography of the soul star.