3 will not be joining the 4G network race until the end of the year, the operators chief executive Dave Dyson has said in an earnings call.

The operator, owned by Hong Kongs Hutchison Whampoa, increased its subscriber base by 900,000 in 2012, now totalling 9.1m customers for the UKs smallest mobile network. Revenue increased 9 per cent to $3bn (£1.95bn).

Although 3 bought some of the 800MHz spectrum on offer iin the recent 4G auction and has negotiated the purchase of more from EE, the CEO said he believes the companys current network is still good enough.

“We have the opportunity to move quite quickly with the 800Mhz spectrum that we acquired in the auction,” Dyson said. “However, realistically, I think its going to be towards the end of the year before you see us launch LTE as a technology.

“Right now the latest version of 3G and the early versions of LTE are not dramatically different and I am very confident that our customers are getting the right experience.”