Fears over 4G delays with legal talks 'in the balance' Negotiations between mobile operators that aim to avoid costly and protracted court action are still "in the balance," according to the FT. There remains a threat of "years of litigation," sources close to the talks said. O2, Vodafone and 3 were left outraged after EE, a new brand introduced by Everything Everywhere, got regulatory approval authorised to launch 4G early, on handsets such as Apple's new iPhone 5. Everything Everywhere, formed by the merger of Orange and T-Mobile, has a surplus of 2G spectrum and successfully applied to Ofcom to reuse it and introduce 4G services early. It plans to start offering 4G subscriptions next month. "It's fair to say that we're in discussions with the wider industry over 4G spectrum, but this is in an attempt to bring 4G to all UK customers, not to delay the launch of 4G," said an O2 Spokesperson. As a result, we're talking as a group about the possibility of bringing the auction forward and asking if the frequencies used in the spectrum can be cleared quickly. 4G technology will offers speeds up to three times faster than 3G networks currently available in the UK and it's feared further delays would see Britain slipping behind the rest of the world in mobile communications.