Everything Everywhere has been approved by Ofcom to begin delivering 4G mobile services to the UK later this year, far earlier than was expected.

From 11 September, Everything Everywhere, the owner of Orange and T-Mobile, will be able to roll out 4G mobile services, enabling faster download speeds for mobile devices. Ofcom has ruled in favour of Everything Everywhere’s application to use its 1800MHz spectrum. 

“Ofcom's decision to make 4G available this year is great news for the UK," said an Everything Everywhere spokesperson.

"Consumers will soon be able to benefit from the much greater mobile speeds that 4G will deliver. 4G will drive investment, employment and innovation and we look forward to making it available later this year, delivering superfast mobile broadband to the UK.”

Ofcom says Everything Everywhere’s application will “benefit consumers” while providing no risk to the competition from other networks such as Vodafone and O2. Everything Everywhere has previously accused both networks of trying to stall the 4G roll-out.

Other Operators will be able to launch 4G from next year following an auction where Ofcom will decide how to divvy out the radio spectrum that supports 4G, meaning more people will have access to 4G services in 2013. 

The 11 September date is particularly interesting. Apple looks set to unveil the iPhone 5 on 12 September - a device rumoured to be LTE compatible.

Feasibly this could mean the iPhone 5 on Everything Everywhere’s network could run LTE.

What do you make of Ofcom's decision? Tell us in the comments below...