O2 is launching 4G service in three U.K. cities this month, in competition with EE, and will roll out the service in ten more cities by the end of 2013.
O2 intends on competing with the nation's only 4G service provider, EE, by launching the high-speed mobile internet service in London, Leeds and Bradford August 29, 2013.The British internet service provider plans to start on a small scale but hopes to get a huge push by the end of this year. O2 will support all high-end 4G supported smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy S4, HTC One, Blackberry Z10 and others, but unlike EE, iPhone 5 users will not be able to avail the service yet.
"The full potential of 4G is as yet unexplored, but what we can be sure of is that it will allow for a whole new world of opportunity that people are now ready for," Ronan Dunne, CEO of Telefónica U.K. (O2), said in a statement. "Over half of our customers say they use more data than two years ago and even more use Wi-Fi wherever they go, to always stay connected. Given this trend, there is no doubt that 4G will transform our lives, be it as consumers, in business or through public sector services."
The higher demand for faster speeds on internet downloads and uploads via mobile devices has given a push to the Berkshire-based ISP to go a step further than its fast 3G service. As the service debuts in three major cities, O2 said that the expansion will bring 4G service in ten other cities including Birmingham, Newcastle, Glasgow, Liverpool, Nottingham, Leicester, Coventry, Sheffield, Manchester and Edinburgh by the end of 2013.
O2 has placed its 4G deals slightly higher than its competitor but it is too early to draw comparisons as no details of what is included in the plan were disclosed. The 4G deals starts at approximately $44, while EE's basic tariff on 4G starts from around $31 for voice and data and less than $23 for just data plan.
EE launched its 4G service in October last year and has attracted 687,000 customers across 95 towns and cities in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. While EE still takes the lead in providing the fastest mobile internet service, other providers are slowly picking up to join the 4G race. Vodafone is reportedly working toward launching the 4G service by the end of the summer while Three plans not to stay behind in the race, according to CNET News. A report from ZDNET reveals that British Telecom (BT) has signed a ten year deal with O2 to support the high-speed service in the U.K.
