Everything Everywhere Reveals 4G LTE Event On iPhone 5 Eve

UK carrier combo Everything Everywhere has announced a 4G launch event on September 11, with LTE rollout plans expected and, perhaps tellingly, all the day before Apple is tipped to reveal the LTE-capable iPhone 5. The London event will see the Orange and T-Mobile team-up discuss "the latest innovation in network technology" which UK regulators gave permission for an early launch back in August.

That came as no small frustration to rival UK carriers, but Everything Everywhere managed to convince the UK telecoms regulator Ofcom that it was in customers' best interests to get a 4G network up and running as soon as possible. The earliest date that could happen, Ofcom decided, was September 11.

Apple's new iPhone event, confirmed on Tuesday, is a more recent addition to the diary, but long-standing rumors of a 4G upgrade for the iOS smartphone do seem notable given Everything Everywhere's news. Exactly how ready the fledgling LTE network will be remains to be seen, however – the network has previously warned not to expect anything to go live until October at the earliest – as is whether the new iPhone is compatible with Everything Everywhere's LTE bands.

That's no small issue, in fact. The current LTE iPad, for instance, does not support the 1,800MHz band the UK operator plans to use for its initial 4G services, meaning Apple would need to use a different modem for the iPhone 5 if it wanted UK users to be able to access LTE speeds.

SlashGear will be at the Everything Everywhere event next Tuesday to bring back all the news – and, indeed, we'll be liveblogging the new iPhone announcement the following day at live.slashgear.com - so join us then for the details!