4G – EE widens coverage, Three promises ‘no price premium’

EE, currently the UK’s only mobile operator offering ‘fourth generation’ connectivity, announced that as of last week 4G is available in nine new areas across the UK.

This brings the total number of towns and cities covered by the superfast mobile technology to 27, just 90 days after the launch of the service.

4G is now switched on in Amersham, Bolton, Chelmsford, Hemel Hempstead, Southend-on-Sea, Stockport, Sunderland, Sutton Coldfield and Wolverhampton. 4G from EE now covers the homes and businesses of approximately 45% of the UK population.

Olaf Swantee, chief executive officer at EE, said “As the first operator to bring 4G to the UK it is important that we make it accessible to as much of the population as possible, as quickly as possible. To be ahead of schedule and covering approximately 45% of the population within just 90 days of the launch is a great achievement for our network team.

“We continue to bring superfast mobile to more and more people, whether they’re using their devices outdoors or in their homes and offices, and to increase the speed and consistency of our 4G and 3G network across the UK.”

EE will soon see some competition in the 4G market as rival mobile network Three announced today they will enter the fray while offering the technology as standard with no price premium. Three are currently preparing the launch for sometime this year.

Three UK chief executive Dave Dyson said, “As we add the next wave of technology to our Ultrafast network, we’ve listened to our customers and thought long and hard about the right way to do it. We don’t want to limit Ultrafast services to a select few based on a premium price and we’ve decided our customers will get this service as standard.