Vodafone and Telefonica who already had an agreement to share new network sites, said they would strengthen their partnership by pooling their basic network infrastructure to take their national population coverage to 98pc by 2015. The agreement will also allow the groups to build two competing fourth generation networks faster than could have been achieved independently, The Telegraph reported.

"Exceptional customer demand for the mobile internet has challenged the mobile industry to consider innovative solutions to building a nationwide network that will be fit for our customers in the future and support the products and services that will truly make Britain digital," Ronan Dunne, chief executive of Telefonica UK, said.

"This partnership is about working smarter as an industry, so that we can focus on what really matters to our customers - delivering a superfast network up to two years faster than Ofcom envisages and to as many people as possible."