New, fourth-generation (4G) mobile broadband technologies are already in development, but could be delayed in the UK until 2012.

That is according to PC Pro, which explained that deployments of Long Term Evolution and other new mobile broadband technologies are already beginning in the US, Europe and China.

However, the UK has been slow off the mark and will not be able to participate in any of its own schemes until the 900MHz band of spectrum currently owned by Vodafone and O2 is redistributed by the government, the website reports.

With such a move not expected to take place until next year, Ericsson told PC Pro that it will not be able to deploy its own mobile broadband technology in the UK until 2012.

The company, which develops mobile broadband modules for netbooks and laptops, also warned that LTE uses existing infrastructure and, as such, would not be capable of reaching the maximum theoretical speed of 150Mb that is offered by the technology.

John Cunliffe, Chief Technology Officer of Ericsson, told PC Pro that its 4G offering would provide customers with speeds "around ten times [quicker than those] of their current experience on a 3.6Mb mobile broadband connection".

Last week, regulator Ofcom announced that it would be clearing the 800MHz band of radio spectrum to set aside for next-generation mobile broadband services.