Everything Everywhere, the conglomeration of mobile networks Orange and T-Mobile, is starting to get devices ready for its burgeoning 4G next-generation network, having agreed an exclusive with Huawei on its Ascend P1 LTE smartphone.
Built around Android 4.0 'Ice Cream Sandwich,' the Ascend P1 LTE features a dual-core 1.5GHz processor, a 4.3in Super AMOLED qHD display protected by Corning's scratch- and smash-proof Gorilla Glass 2 and 1GB of RAM. An eight megapixel camera is found the to rear, with dual-LED flash for low-light photography and a burst mode capable of capturing up to 30 images per second.
The smartphone's key feature, however, is its support for the Long Term Evolution (LTE) mobile broadband standard. Designed to replace current 3G technologies, LTE provides significantly improved download and upload performance - an important feature in a modern smartphone with its data-hungry apps - and can also be used to boost voice call quality.
While relatively commonplace in the US, LTE rollout in the UK has been slow with Everything Everywhere - which has recently rebranded itself as EE - getting to nod from Ofcom and announcing that the LTE network will cover 16 UK cities by the end of the year with speeds of up to 30Mb/s possible at launch.
An LTE network is no good without LTE-compatible handsets, however - and in the UK, those are thin on the ground. Samsung has promised an LTE-compatible version of its S3 handset, while Huawei's Ascend P1 LTE will also be available through Orange and T-Mobile stores.
With Everything Everywhere agreeing exclusivity on the Ascend P1 LTE, it's clear the company believes that its support for LTE will help differentiate it from competition including O2 and Vodafone, and is willing to spend not-inconsiderable money to maintain that competitive edge.
No release date for the Ascend P1 LTE has been announced.
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