New Ofcom research has revealed that 4G mobile technology will deliver more than 200% of the capacity of existing 3G technologies, while using the same amount of spectrum.
The additional efficiency of 4G mobile technology is expected to support increased data rates and growing number of users.
Ofcom chief technology officer Dr Stephen Unger said, "4G mobile technologies will be able to send more information than 3G, for a given amount of spectrum. This increased efficiency means that 4G networks will be able to support increased data rates and more users.
"The research that we commissioned indicates that early 4G mobile networks with standard configurations will be 3.3 times (230%) more spectrally efficient than today’s standard 3G networks. To put this in context, a user on an early 4G network will be able to download a video in around a third of the time it takes today on a 3G network. It is anticipated that this efficiency will increase to approximately 5.5 times (450%) by 2020."
The first 4G networks in the UK are expected to be available from 2013.