EE launches UK's first 4G mobile phone network in London

From this morning, those who subscribe to EE will be able to use the 4G service, which will allow them to use the internet five times faster.

Formerly known as Everything, Everywhere the network will allow T-Mobile and Orange customers fast speed browsing - between 8 to 12bps – five times as fast as the current 3G services.

The new speedy internet service means that mobile streaming for videos and music will be a dream.

However, as you would expect, network costs have shot up, tariffs start from £36 a month and include 500MB of data, and anything over this will have to be paid for separately. Streaming costs are high, streaming an hour of film could use over 200MB, meaning the network will receive handsome profits if their users are constantly streaming.

EE boss Olaf Swantee told the BBC that they did “months of consumer research” on tariffs which are supposedly at “the sweet spot”.

Ovum representative Matthew Howett also commented: "It's fair to say that EE has attracted a fair degree of criticism not so much for the price of the 4G tariffs, but rather on the amount of data bundled at each level," he explained to the BBC.

EE still plans to poach phone users from other networks by luring them in with the new speedy internet service.

EE was given permission to use 4G before other providers using its current bandwidth; other networks will not be allowed to offer the service until early next year.

Image: Getty.