ARM has told TechRadar that UK consumers shouldn't be annoyed at the delay in getting next-generation mobile connectivity.
The likes of the US and Japan have had 4G (or LTE) networks – capable of speeds up to 10 times faster than the UK's 3G connections – and this has led to anger from some users at the networks and the government for delaying the rollout.
However, James Bruce, ARM's lead mobile strategist, says this is to the benefit of user experience, and will lead to a better system:
"From ARM's perspective, we've had a focus on helping to improve power efficiency and more computational processes within handsets to help LTE."
All good, all good
"If you look at our modem partners, they've been doing a very good job; in the first generation of 3G devices the battery life was not optimum but by generation two or three, the battery life had improved significantly.
"4G is going to be hugely improved in 2013, and I think if we look at it's deployment in other markets, last year was all about rolling out the technology, 2012 was really optimising it (for things like processor efficiency and battery life), and 2013 will be the year when LTE becomes mass market."
So it seems that while it's hard to watch our international cousins playing about with speeds in excess of 25Mbps on a regular basis, at least they're ironing out the bugs for the UK when 4G finally becomes a reality in Britain.
