Robin Kent writes:

With this week’s announcement that Everything Everywhere has been given the green light to launch the UK’s first 4G service, competing operators such as Vodafone and O2 are getting hot under the collar. With every day that goes by, these operators lose vital competitiveness as the market creeps away them towards Orange and T-Mobile. This is a real life ‘hare and tortoise’ scenario.

We start this week's edition of The Fonecast with confirmation that 4G coverage will be launched in the UK this year, thanks to Everything Everywhere.

However, all's not well in the world of mobile retail - as mystery shopping by a consumer organisation reports widespread misinformation from sales staff.

This morning’s announcement by Ofcom that it was allowing Everything Everywhere - the company behind Orange and T-Mobile in the UK - to use its existing spectrum for 4G has been met by statements of disappointment from both Vodafone and O2.

Vodafone’s official statement said “We are frankly shocked that Ofcom has reached this decision. The regulator has shown a careless disregard for the best interests of consumers, businesses and the wider economy through its refusal to properly regard the competitive distortion created by allowing one operator to run services before the ground has been laid for a fully competitive 4G market.”

Mark Bridge writes:

It’s been a busy day for Everything Everywhere. Alongside its 4G news came rumours that the company was planning a rebrand, with ‘Orange’ and ‘T-Mobile’ eventually being dropped in favour of the ‘Everything Everywhere’ branding.

There’s now an official statement from Everything Everywhere:

Telecoms regulator Ofcom has approved Everything Everywhere’s plans to use its existing 1800MHz spectrum for delivering 4G services. Everything Everywhere applied to Ofcom in November last year with a proposal to change its current licences.

Following a consultation, Ofcom has concluded that these changes will deliver significant benefits to consumers without distorting competition or giving Everything Everywhere anything more than a brief advantage.