O2 will turn on a 4G LTE (long-term evolution) network today in London. The company says the trial will run for the next nine months, with 25 4G sites going live across the city this month.
The network will cover 40 square kilometres, says O2, from Hyde Park to the O2 in Arena Greenwich, with key areas including Canary Wharf, Soho, Westminster, the South Bank, and Kings Cross covered.
Ronan Dunne, CEO of Telefónica UK (O2), says: “Todays launch of the UKs first 4G London trial network demonstrates our commitment to delivering 4G to our customers at the earliest opportunity. The work we are doing now will lay the foundations for our commercial 4G network when it launches in the UK.”
O2 will provide trialists with Samsung B3730 mobile broadband dongles, which support speeds of up to 100Mbps, and 4G personal wireless hotspots and handsets from a number of vendors. The company says around 1,000 people will take part in the trial, from businesses such as John Lewis, and Enterprise Nation, as well as The Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET).
Members of the public will be able to take part in the trial – O2 is setting up a 4G hotspot at the O2 Arena. Readers of online gadget magazine Gizmodo UK are also to be recruited for the trial for a period of three months. Readers will be selected at a launch party at The O2, and will provide feedback via a reader panel on the Gizmodo site.
The O2 4G trial will use the 2.6GHz spectrum band under a Test and Development licence granted to O2 by OFCOM, and is an extension of O2s earlier 4G trials in Slough that have been running since 2009. The 2.6GHz band supports the maximum 20MHz RF bandwidth for LTE, which allows 4G speeds of up to 150Mbps. 
“The forthcoming spectrum auction is a watershed moment for the UK mobile industry, which will see the release of the airwaves capable of powering a whole range of exciting next-generation mobile services,” says Dunne. “We are actively engaged in the auction and are supportive of a fair process that meets the Governments and Ofcoms planned timeline.”
Miriam Lahage, VP of global fashion at internet giant eBay, says the news from O2 is welcome, but that the UK cannot afford to delay the auction of the 4G spectrum any further. “It is very encouraging to see O2 commit to trialling 4G high-speed mobile internet in London,” she says.
Last week, eBay published a Mobile Manifesto, outlining what the company says needs to happen to encourage the mobile economy in the UK.
“As we set out in our Mobile Manifesto, accelerating 4G rollout is critical to the success of the UK mobile economy as over 45 per cent of consumers are currently dissatisfied with the speed at which they can complete everyday functions like browsing and shopping on their smartphones,” says Lahage.
“This O2 initiative is an important step to improving UK mobile infrastructure, and will give consumers in London a taste of what is to come after the 4G rollout. Ofcom should proceed with the auction of the 4G spectrum as quickly as possible so consumers and the industry can benefit from the next generation of mobile broadband.”
