The introduction of 4G internet could result in the safeguarding of thousands of jobs, £5.5 billion investment in the UK and could save workers 37 million hours a year, according to group 4G Britain. But could it trash your TV reception?
The group, which is pushing for the fast-speed mobile broadband introduction into the United Kingdom, commissioned Capital Economics to research the benefits of switching to 4G for the UK.
More benefits, according to the research, include a .5% growth in GDP per annum, and the ability to download the equivalent of an entire music album in under one minute.
A spokesperson for Everything Everywhere told The Huffington Post: "If given the go ahead by Ofcom, Everything Everywhere is ready and able to launch 4G on a small scale in the UK this year. With the highest levels of smartphone usage and mobile advertising in Europe, we believe Britons deserve to have a 21st Century infrastructure in place. Right now we are falling behind our main global business rivals, with half of the countries on the G20 list of the world’s biggest economies already benefitting from 4G.”
Research from Everything Everywhere says that most Britons think it's a good idea. Almost three quarters (74%) of people surveyed by the ISP want 4G to come to the UK as soon as possible.
In a YouGov poll of 2033 adults, Everything Everywhere found that 66% of people think 4G is important for the UK to catch up with other countries, 58% said they want faster internet connections and 45% want it for job creation.
No-one surveyed admitted to wanting 4G to use their new iPad 4G - the 4G offered on that device is not compatible with the band 4G will operate on in the UK.
Opponents of 4G say that the high speed mobile internet, which operates on the frequencies between TV channels, will knock out television reception for thousands of viewers.
According to The Telegraph, culture minister Ed Vaizey said almost two million households could have their TV reception affected by 4G - 945,000 households that use signal amplifiers and 953,000 households that use communal aerials.
Ofcom has released a range of methods to counter the interference, including fitting a filter to TV aerials affected. Ofcom says the costs for these changes should be born by the companies that roll out 4G, at no cost to the consumer.
See more benefits of 4G in the slideshow below.