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LTE in the UK

S

SpudWLike

Lurker
It's the pain of future proofing - an impossible dream I know.

The One X was looking to be a likely candidate for my next phone, my Desire is dying, but I have hopes of it lasting until April. But ...

With all the talk about 4G LTE being brought to the UK earlier than expected, it's put me in a quandary.

  • Am I right in thinking that the European One X won't support LTE?
  • Am I worrying about LTE support too much? Will I miss much not having it?
 
its a good question..

my question is whether or not the LTE support on the Tegra quad core can be 'enabled' (for lack of better word) on a future update on the handset.

Anyone out there know about these kinds of updates ?
 
the way i look at this is, if you can get the fastest data speeds we can on the HSDPA+ tech consistently across the UK, is there any real need to go faster for now? i mean probably the most intensive thing we'll ever do on our phones is youtube, downloading vids and music, browse new sites etc etc

until there's like proper intensive MMORPGs or multiplayer games i.e. a really good FPS, that requires uber connection speeds im not that bothered for now till some services I need relies on it.

dont get me wrong, itll be a nice to have, but i'd rather ensure the phone will get the latest updates over 18-24months that load a tube vid in 5sec.

that would be interesting as mentioned earlier is for the current Tegra 3 gen stuff to have a future update that will allow it LTE capabilities
 
I kind of doubt it would have the capability to be updated to receiving LTE, for a while at least I was under the impression that there simply wasn't room for the LTE radio in the pone with the Tegra 3, but I suppose I could always be wrong :-)
 
We have HSPA+ in the UK and in the summer, Three (and probably other networks) will be switching on DC-HSPA+ for speeds of around 40 megabits.

When I use a Three SIM, I can get speeds of 8Mbps down (and 1.5-3Mbps up) and out and about, this can rise to 15Mbps down and around 2.5-3Mbps up) and that is fine for me. If I can get even 50% more with DC-HSPA+ then I'll be even happier.

Aren't a lot of US networks classing HSPA+ as 4G? UK operators have agreed NOT to call HSPA+ 4G and wait for LTE. If they hadn't, we'd probably have 4G right now with the consumer none the wiser!

Even a lot of people on UK tech sites don't seem to realise that we're not so hard done by here, given the confusion with what constitutes 4G.
 
As I understand LTE is already being rolled out this year by Everything Everywhere (t-mobile & orange) using their existing frequencies and not waiting for the Ofcom auction. So there is a real possibility that between now and 2013 LTE will be available in your area. Therefore I agree if you are buying a phone now, it would be good if it supported LTE. Are there any such phones available in the UK?

here is my link for the Everything Everywhere LTE rollout news

Everything Everywhere sees LTE rollout this year | Reuters
 
You'd need an LTE phone that works on the frequencies EE plans to use, and let's be realistic - they're not going to roll coverage out nationwide for a while.

I'm on Orange, so I'll no doubt get a handset that works with it in due course, but I'm certainly in no rush. Any speeds of over 10Mb are just fine for me. I only get 6.5Mb on my home broadband!
 
the 4g auction will be held in 5-6 months, then we are going to have another year or there aboust before 4g is ready to turn on, then another 6 months top a year for it to reach more than the major cities and a few select counties.

I was planning on waiting for 4g to updrade but its just not going to be worth it. An 18 month contract will mean you will have another upgrade just as 4g is getting there im gonna bet.
 
Yes, I'd not worry too much about 4G yet. Certainly don't wait until a phone comes out here!

HSPA+ has loads of potential. Get a phone that supports speeds of up to 40Mbps and I'm sure you'll be fine. Even 2-3Mbps on the move (with the faster upload speed and lower ping times that HSPA+ offers) is perfectly good. I can browse in a more fluid way on my laptop on a train than I can at home sometimes!

As you say, even when we get 4G licenses officially issued - there's the time to roll it out and I'm sure there will be limited capacity for a while. Then we have the likely tariffs, which may well charge a premium for the higher speed just as people are paying more for the likes of BT Infinity and other FTTP/FTTC services.
 
Also it looks like orange/tmobile (everything everywhere) might have had their plans spoilt by ofcoms latest decision, they are now considering cutting half of the free view channels in the 700 frequency to make it a little fairer, not sure if this will happen though :-) come on networks, lets get some 4g!
 
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