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Ofcom expects 4G mobile broadband to offer 200% capacity boost
The regulator said early 4G services will be 3.3 times more efficient than current 3G technologies.
Research from the telecoms industry watchdog found this result will be achieved without requiring any more spectrum than the amount used by 3G broadband.
Increased mobile data traffic driven by the growing popularity of smartphones and other mobile broadband-enabled devices will make these higher levels of capacity "essential", Ofcom claimed.
The study discovered that these next-generation services - known as 4G - are 3.3 times more efficient with their use of spectrum than standard 3G networks.
It means consumers taking advantage of one of the first versions of 4G will be able to download a film or music track in approximately a third of the time it would take using 3G infrastructure.
By 2020, 4G technology is set to be around 5.5 times - or 450 per cent - more efficient than 3G.
Dr Stephen Unger, chief technology officer at the organisation, said: "4G mobile technologies will be able to send more information than 3G, for a given amount of spectrum.
"This increased efficiency means that 4G networks will be able to support increased data rates and more users."
Ofcom expects 4G mobile broadband networks to be rolled out across the UK from 2013, with the auction for the newly-freed-up 800MHz and 2.6GHz spectrum bands set to get underway in the first quarter of 2012.
It will be the largest ever single auction of additional mobile spectrum, with 80 per cent more frequency up for grabs than during the 3G sales process in 2000.
Chief executive of Ofcom Ed Richards described the auction as being of "significant importance" to the UK economy and "critical" to the future of the telecoms market.
He added: "It will support a wide range of data services that are fast becoming essential features of the modern world."