Apple has announced its 4G capable iPhone 5 but the smartphone won't run on O2 or Vodafone's 4G networks.
Consumer choice for 4G on the iPhone 5 is limited
You'd be forgiven if you thought buying the iPhone 5 would allow you to use any 4G network you like as and when they become available. Unfortunately this isn’t the case and the options are limited. See also: iPhone 5 review
The problem lies in the fact that EE has been allowed to roll out a 4G network ahead of the competition. EE will launch 4G for consumers in the next few weeks and will initially be the only mobile operator to give iPhone 5 users 4G mobile broadband speeds.
Read: EE 4G in the UK: what you need to know.
EE's network uses the 1800MHz spectrum which is supported by the iPhone 5. Although O2 and Vodafone will be bidding for 4G spectrum in Ofcom's upcoming auction, the 800MHz and 2.6GHz spectrums do not match the iPhone 5's 4G specification.
See also: iPhone 5 UK price and mobile network round-up.
Orange and T-Mobile customers won't have the option for 4G either. However, since they are owned by EE it will be easy to move over to the new operator.
Three is the exception here since EE sold parts of the 1800MHz spectrum to Three which it can use for 4G services. We've been in contact with Three to find out when it will launch 4G and are waiting to hear back.
In summary your options with the iPhone 5 are to go with EE or Three for 4G when the networks are live or use the iPhone 5 on existing 3G networks from O2 and Vodafone. If you want an iPhone with 4G on O2 or Vodafone then you'll probably have to wait for the next generation of iPhone.
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Comments
Adriano20102010 said: That is bullshit I work for ee
huddsmat said: This is wrong if you want 4G on the iPhone 5 on the 800MHz or 26GHz spuctrum O2 or Vodafone you can but the America version of the iPhone I am sure Apple will bring out both versions like they do in the US when the other spectrums become live
JBmercy said: o2 have the worst 3G coverage of all networks And when you do get a 3G signal it dont lock onto it for long in UK we still cant get 3G right or to everyone 4G is going to be no different unless you live in one of the major cities Many many years for Britain to sort this out properlyAlso would like to see the pricing structure for this magical 4G data plans are a rip off at the moment capped limited most networks dont want you streaming vids etc 4G is going to eat MB in seconds And thanks to all UK networks probably our wallets too
David said: EE have the largest 3G coverage and have 33 of the uks 4G coverage better than o2 and voda
Anon said: Having experienced customer service from Orange o2 and Vodafone in the past year ill be sticking with o2 i had months and months of runaround trying to get a refund from Orange when i sent my first iphone back They certainly didnt make it easy at all Vodafone were brilliant at first but then their customer services started getting routed through Egypt Now the Egyptian people were brilliantly friendly and courteous but again it took me months of careful explaining and deep reservoirs ofpatience recently that No it is NOT my phone at fault it is my local phone mast which i can see through my window across the road I have NO signal Months Eventually their engineers got onto it But by then it was 3 months too little too late I switched to o2And thus far o2 have been brilliant with customer service I could chat to their C service last night with several questions about my account Took them a few minutes to open the chat window with me but once they did all went extremely smoothly I feel extremely sorry for them as they are getting stiffed by Someone here Conspiracy theories anyone
Lpoollad_69 said: Leaving orange was the best thing I ever done as there coverageis so poor I worked all over the country as a hgv driver and it was crapeverywhere even at home there was no signal Like the other post states Idrather have a good 3g coverage with o2 than just hotspots of 4g with EE
Mschumacherfan said: What is the point of having 4g on the phone if we cant use it