Vodafone has confirmed to Pocket-lint that it slowly rolling out EDGE across its network in the UK.

However before you go looking for the official announcement from the mobile operator, there isn’t one and there won’t be, Pocket-lint has found out.

According to our source within the company, the EDGE network, which promises faster data speeds for phones that are EDGE compatible, will only be available when current 2G base stations need replacing.

Our source insisted however that the company isn’t planning on a national rollout to complete against O2.

So far Pocket-lint has found EDGE connectivity on the Vodafone network in Southampton and Nottingham.

EDGE, not really an issue in the UK following widespread adoption of 3G and HSDPA services, has come to mainstream attention because O2 has rolled out the new service ahead of the launch of the Apple iPhone this month.

EDGE-enabled phones, including the iPhone can use the service to get slightly faster connectivity that GPRS.