14 DAY TRIAL // In a bold move toward the 4G market, O2 UK has just announced its first 4G LTE network trial, which is set to start by the end of November and is scheduled to run until Summer 2012.
According to the carrier, the company invested more than £1 billion in the last few years to ready its network for the LTE technology and is willing to spend another £1 million daily to improve it even further.
O2 will offer its first 4G services in the UK sometime in the second half of 2012, but the carrier has yet to complete its trials and announced the availability of the services.
It looks like the carrier owns the largest 4G trial network in the UK, in central London, which apparently covers 40 square kilometres and comprises 25 sites.
Currently, O2's 4G LTE network covers several important areas in London, including Soho, Canary Wharf, South Bank, Westminster and Kings Cross.
The reason behind O2's decision is clearly the need of its customers for higher data speeds, which can greatly enhance the Internet browsing experience, as well as data transfers speeds.
“The way our customers are using their mobiles is changing. More picture messages, video and internet. Fewer calls. And every six months, our customers use our network twice as much,” O2 UK.
O2 employed the help of a thousand testers who will be testing and send feedback on the carrier's 4G LTE network performance.
Obviously, the results of the trial will help the carrier provide the best 4G experience to its customers.
O2 UK explains the advantages of its 4G LTE network: “4G can be as fast as the fastest landline fibre home broadband connections - more than ten times as fast as 3G. At these speeds, the time to download a 500MB file could be as quick as under one minute, compared to over 5 minutes on 3G.”