EE Launches LTE, Promising 48 Mbps to 60 Mbps Speeds

EE is launching Long Term Evolution fouth generation service in twelve U.K cities on the 4th of July, 2013, at speeds EE says will at double current LTE speeds offered elsewhere in Europe, typically ranging from 24 Mbps to 30 Mbps.

That implies EE 4G network speeds of between 48 Mbps and 60 Mbps, "faster than mobile networks in the United States and Japan, and equal to the best in South Korea," EE says. 

The faster services, made possible because EE has doubled the amount of spectrum available for the 4G network, will initially be available in Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester and Sheffield.

EE got permission from Ofcom, the U.K. regulator, to use some existing 1,8 GHz spectrum for 4G, before other service providers are able to deploy new 2,6 GHz 4G spectrum won in the recent U.K. spectrum auctions. 

Speeds up to 300 Mbps could be possible after EE adds its new 2.6 GHz spectrum.