Much has been made of the delay with carriers being able to provide 4G networks in the UK, as auctions for the licences constantly being delayed. Recently it was revealed that Ofcom is looking to provide the first 4G service for UK consumers later this year, but in the meantime network providers have been busy trialling the service in certain regions of the country. It is now being reported that during these trials O2 managed to achieve speeds of around 150Mbps.

The company has been trialling 4G connectivity in London since last December, and according to TechRadar has just revealed some of the speeds the network has been achieving. During the trials O2 is claiming to have seen speeds of up to 150Mbps from its connections, but the people actually using the 4G connection were actually seeing speeds that were between 20 and 50Mbps.

This coincides with a 0.7 second ‘click-to-bang’ ration, and O2 are claiming a 40MB file can be downloaded in a matter of seconds using the 4G network. Currently there are 25 sites being used in the trial in London stretching from the Canary Wharf and The O2 to Hyde Park, which also covers Kings Cross, the South Bank, and Westminster.

There are 1,000 people that have access to the O2 4G service and the data collected during the trial will help the carrier with its plans to make 4G available to all by 2013, which is the same time the 4G spectrum is opened up across the country.

Those that are using the service are mainly accessing the 4G service by using a Samsung 4G dongle and Mi-Fi, as currently there are no 4G smartphones available in the UK. Ronan Dunne from the company said that the upcoming 4G auction will be “a watershed moment for the UK mobile industry, releasing the airwaves that will power a whole range of exciting next generation mobile services”.

Dunne added that the new spectrum could increase capacity by up to forty times compared to today’s levels, and that O2 are committed to getting its customers onto a 4G network as soon as possible. There have been a number of delays for the 4G auction that has seen the UK fall behind the likes of the US with regards to providing 4G networks to consumers.

The big networks in the UK such as O2 are hoping the auction will have taken place before the end of this year, but the delays could mean that a mass rollout of 4G in the country may not take place until 2015.

Are you looking forward to 4G connectivity in the UK or are you happy with 3G?