The UK’s ‘big four’ mobile phone operators - EE, Telefónica O2, Three and Vodafone - have formed a jointly-controlled company called Digital Mobile Spectrum.

It’ll help any households experiencing TV signal interference when 4G mobile services are introduced on the 800MHz frequency band.

Ofcom, the UK government and the major networks have all agreed a timetable for 4G to be launched across the UK.

We're talking about those plans in this week's podcast - and taking a look at all the other top mobile industry stories as well, from US mergers and leaky tablets to free WiFi and forthcoming quarterly results.

International figures from ABI Research show that 4G data currently costs around 20% more than the equivalent 3G tariff.

However, the research company says there are signs that competition is already causing 4G tariffs to fall.

Following an agreement that the UK’s new 4G mobile spectrum would be available for use by next summer, Everything Everywhere has confirmed a launch date for its own 4G service and its EE brand.

EE will launch 4G in Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester and Sheffield on the 30th October 2012. A third of the UK population is expected to be covered by the end of the year.

The government and Ofcom have confirmed that the UK’s major mobile networks will be able to launch 4G mobile phone services in the first half of next year.

800MHz and 2.6GHz radio frequencies for 4G services are being made available earlier than previously expected, which means networks will be able to launch 4G within a few months of the planned spectrum auction.