O2 has turned on the first 4G network today to provide superfast mobile broadband to customers in London.
Video and music streaming will be faster on the new network, as 4G will enable a 500MB file to be downloaded in under a minute, compared to more than five minutes on 3G.
The network will be available over the next nine months until June 2012 over 25 4G sites across London, from Hyde Park in central London to The O2 events venue in Greenwich.
Key areas such as Canary Wharf, Kings Cross, Soho, Westminster and South Bank will also have access to the superfast network.
“The work we are doing now will lay the foundations for our commercial 4G network when it launches in the UK,” said Ronan Dunne, CEO of Telefónica UK (O2).
More than 1,000 individuals are expected to take part in the trial. Organisations that have signed up to the pilot include retailer John Lewis and the Institution of Engineering and Technology, which will try out the network internally.
The O2 Arena will provide live music video and film streaming demonstrations at the O2 Lounge and O2 Store.
Those taking part in the trial will be provided with Samsung B3730 mobile broadband dongles, which will support speeds of up to 100Mbps, as well as 4G personal wireless hotspots and handsets.
During the trial, O2 will collect network performance data and feedback from customers, which the operator will use to shape its plans for the commercial implementation of the network after Ofcom’s 4G spectrum auction. The auction is due to take place in 2012.
The trial network has been deployed using radio and core network equipment from Nokia Siemens Network, as well as microwave radio equipment from Cambridge Broadband Networks, NEC and Nokia Siemens Networks.
Separately, the Financial Times has reported that O2 plans to offer customers more control of their personal data as part of a future trial.
It comes as the UK government announced its midata initiative, which aims to enable companies to release personal data back to consumers.
O2 will offer customers to choose what information – from location information to internet search histories – can be used by the company, and how much of it can be used in activities such as marketing.
Exact details of the plans are not yet available.
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Comments received
Neil said on Mon, 14 Nov 2011
Good news for Londoners that a network cossets and cuddles them so well.
The rest of us in vast swathes of the country that have yet to sniff even 3G from O2 can only look on in envy.
Still, at least O2 makes up for it by vastly reducing the rates their 2G customers pay for an inferior and usually intermittent service.
Not.
Aryugaetu said on Wed, 16 Nov 2011
Do not fret , Neil. It could be much worse, you could be in the US. Here, the major communications companies such as cable tv, home phone and to some extent, mobile phone have created laws against competition. This leaves the vast majority of the US without ANY high speed internet (just dial-up) and very poor mobile service unless you are in a city or near a major expressway. In addition, the rates average 10 times greater than in the UK. $90 (£57) per month for mobile service with data (usually limited to 5Gb per month) and an additional $90 (£57) per month for cable tv with internet is common here. Also note, that 5Gbps internet speeds are very rare here, as the UK is busy installing 20 to 100Gbps fiber optics throughout the countryside. In an internet-driven world, relocation to the UK is a serious option.
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