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EE is the new 4G brand recently introduced by the country’s largest operator, Everything Everywhere, owner of the UK arms of T-Mobile and Orange.

While the operator had earlier pledged to switch on 4G-LTE in 16 UK cities by year-end, it appears to have held off on announcing an official launch date while regulator Ofcom was involved in ‘crunch’ talks with rival operators.

Ofcom announced earlier this week that all the country’s mobile operators should be in a position to launch LTE services using new spectrum from spring 2013, five months earlier than previously planned. This was seen as an attempt to appease Vodafone and O2, which had been angered by Ofcom’s controversial decision to allow EE to refarm its 1800MHz spectrum for LTE – and therefore launch 4G ahead of rivals.

“This is a significant milestone for the United Kingdom, and for the people and businesses of our country who will now be able to enjoy the huge advantages of superfast 4G technology for the first time,” said EE CEO Olaf Swantee .

EE will launch 4G in ten cities on the 30 October, and will cover 16 cities – a third of the UK population – by the end of the year. It is aiming for 98 percent coverage by 2014.

From today, the 4G ready Samsung Galaxy SIII LTE, HTC One XL and Huawei Ascend P1 LTE will be available to buy on Orange and T-Mobile 3G price plans. They join the iPhone 5 which was launched recently. Once 4G launches, Orange and T-Mobile customers with 4G ready handsets can then choose to move across to the new 4G EE customer brand or remain on the existing 3G network.

In a statement yesterday, the regulator noted: “Following discussions with TV broadcasters, Digital UK and the transmission company Arqiva, Ofcom has secured the earlier release of frequencies that were previously used for digital-terrestrial broadcasting. This spectrum will now be cleared and ready for 4G mobile services across much of the UK five months earlier than previously planned, from spring 2013. This has only become possible in the past few months as a result of the significant progress that has been made to date with the digital switchover and the clearance programme itself, which has been running ahead of schedule.”

Specifically, Ofcom said that the clearance date for TV transmitters in Oxford and Waltham – which would otherwise prevent deployment of 4G mobile services to around 9 million people in cities including London, Birmingham, Coventry, Leicester, Nottingham and Sheffield – will be brought forward by five months to May 2013. Similarly, the clearance date for transmitters which impact around 1 million people in and around Glasgow and Edinburgh will be brought forward by more than three months to April 2013.

This progress comes in the same week that Ofcom has held “crunch meetings” with UK operators. The meetings appear to have been an attempt to appease Vodafone and O2, which have been angered by Ofcom’s controversial decision to allow market-leader Everything Everywhere (EE) to refarm its 1800MHz spectrum for early LTE services – and therefore launch 4G ahead of rivals. Last month EE launched a new 4G brand and pledged to launch LTE services in 16 UK cities by Christmas.

Auctions in the ‘digital dividend’ 800/2600MHz bands suitable for 4G are expected to start in December, with official bidding taking place early in 2013.

Oi’s chief executive Francisco Valim made the comments during the launch of a network using the new technology in Leblon, Rio de Janeiro, yesterday. Valim said the company will sign supplier contracts for 4G technology on October 16.

Oi’s plans come as Latin America’s largest mobile market is required to build-out 4G coverage in the host cities for the 2014 football World Cup, which is being held in Brazil.

In June the country’s four largest mobile operators all acquired 4G spectrum in auctions, netting BRL2.72 billion in total for the government. Telefonica’s Vivo submitted the highest winning bid (BRL1.05 billion), followed by America Movil’s Claro (BRL844.5 million), TIM Brasil (BRL375 million) and Oi (BRL345 million). 4G spectrum was up for grabs in both the 2.5GHz and 450MHz bands, suitable for urban and rural coverage respectively.