Telecoms regulator Ofcom has allowed Everything Everywhere, the owner of the Orange and T-Mobile networks, to use its existing bandwidth to launch fourth-generation (4G) mobile services.
The move means 4G, which allows much faster downloads, could launch in the UK earlier than previously planned.
Ofcom said the move would deliver "significant benefits" to consumers that outweigh any competition concerns.
But Vodafone and O2 expressed surprise and disappointment at the decsion.
Ofcom plans to auction 4G bandwidth to other providers next year.
Everything Everywhere will be allowed to offer 4G services from 11 September.
But, as the regulator pointed out, the timing will be a commercial decision for the company itself.
Ofcom said delaying the mobile operator from launching 4G would be "to the detriment of consumers".
'Hugely disappointed'
Everything Everywhere itself said the regulator's decision was "great news for the UK".
"4G will drive investment, employment and innovation and we look forward to making it available later this year, delivering superfast mobile broadband to the UK," the company said.
The firm's two main competitors in the UK mobile market were less than pleased with the decision.
"We are hugely disappointed with today's announcement, which will mean the majority of customers will be excluded from the first wave of digital services," said a spokesperson for O2.
Vodafone was more forthright, saying it was "shocked" at Ofcom's ruling.
"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," a company spokesperson said.
Faster downloads
Mobile phone networks will be allowed to bid for 4G bandwidth early next year.
The auction will offer the equivalent of three-quarters of the mobile spectrum currently in use - some 80% more than released in the 3G auction which took place in 2000.
Ofcom wants to see at least four wholesalers of 4G mobile services, so that consumers will benefit from better services at lower prices.
The auction will sell chunks of radio spectrum to support 4G, which will allow users to download data such as music and videos at much faster speeds.
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