EE 4G network: reaction round-up 4G had been hailed as an answer to the problems of rural communities struggling with poor fixed line speeds, but subsequent 4G launches from other providers will also likely focus on the more commercially viable urban areas. Jason Jenkins, Editor of consumer technology website CNET UK: Apple is normally very good at keeping new products under wraps, but a lot of information about the new iPhone 5 seems to have leaked already. A 4G connection seems very likely, although there was a lot of confusion when Apple added 4G to the iPad a few months back - it turned out it would never work in the UK, so that's a detail to watch out for. Kester Mann, senior analyst operators at CCS: Following the uproar from operators since EE was given the go ahead by Ofcom, today's announcements represent an impressive push by Everything Everywhere to drive 4G in the UK earlier than expected. While the combination of both fixed and mobile networks in a single brand ("EE") indicate a greater enterprise focus from the operator, maintaining three brands will not be straightforward. In particular, EE needs to be careful positioning the Orange brand alongside the premium new name. Ernest Doku, telecoms expert at uSwitch. com: This is an incredibly exciting development for the mobile market and a hugely ambitious rollout. If Everything Everywhere (EE) can pull it off, Britain will officially be in a new digital era. To give an idea of what this will mean, it will take around 3 seconds to download a 4 minute song, compared to 16 seconds using 3G. Downloading a 2 hour film will take 7.5 minutes compared to the current 37 minutes with 3G. Graham Stapleton, Chief Commercial Officer at Carphone Warehouse: The UK has lagged behind other countries in the development of 4G, which is why we very much welcome the launch of EE. There is no doubt this will give a much-needed boost to the industry and economy and help put the UK back at the forefront of mobile technology and innovation. Our customers are increasingly using their smartphones and tablets to browse the web and 4G will bring ultra-fast internet speeds that will significantly improve this experience. Mark Newman, Chief Research Officer at Informa It's a good time to be launching a new mobile brand in the UK. EE will, to all intents and purposes, be a new network but crucially, one which has excellent coverage to compete with the existing players. This is what has made it difficult for new operators like 3 in the past. Most importantly, when EE launches later this year it will have at least five devices that work on the 4G network including the bestselling Samsung Galaxy 3.