EE 4G UK – details on coverage, phones, prices, speeds for the 4GEE network
EE has launched the UK's first 4G mobile network, called 4GEE, allowing for on average five times faster mobile network browsing speeds than 3G.
Where can you get 4G in the UK?
The 4G network is now live in the following 62 places in the UK Amersham, Aylesbury, Barnsley, Belfast, Berkhamstead, Billericay, Bingley, Birmingham, Blackpool, Bolton, Bradford, Brentwood, Bristol, Cardiff, Chelmsford, Chorley, Coventry, Derby, Dewsbury, Doncaster, Dudley, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Harpenden, Hemel Hempstead, Huddersfield, Hull, Leeds, Leicester, Lichfield, Liverpool, London, Loughborough, Luton, Lytham St Annes, Maidenhead, Manchester, Marlow, Newbury, Newcastle, Newport, Nottingham, Pontefract, Preston, Reading, Rotherham, Sheffield, Shipley, Slough, Southampton, Southend-on-Sea, St Albans, Stockport, Sunderland, Sutton Coldfield, Telford, Thame, Walsall, Watford, West Bromwich, Windsor and Wolverhampton. Phew.
See also: 4G UK auction timetable confirmed
EE 4G phones
If you want to get on 4GEE, the UK's first 4G network, you have to choose from the following 4G LTE handsets: Apple iPhone 5, BlackBerry Z10, HTC One, HTC One SV LTE, HTC One XL, Huawei Ascend P1 LTE, Nokia Lumia 920 LTE, Nokia Lumia 820 LTE, Samsung Galaxy S3 LTE, Samsung Galaxy Note II LTE, Samsung Galaxy S4, Sony Xperia SP, Sony Xperia Z.
The Huawei P1 Ascend LTE is exclusive to EE. See more details on EE's 4G phones on the EE website.
EE 4G speeds
EE has now doubled 4G speeds in 10 cities, offering a theoretical fastest 4G speed of 80Mbps.
Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester and Sheffield are the 10 cities to get the 4G LTE speed increase.
EE claims the average 4G speed for customers in these cities will double to around 20Mbps, with headline speeds of 80Mbps.
For now, the 4GEE network offers speeds 'typically five times faster than 3G'.
EE says the average 4G download speed will be 8-12 Mbit/s (with potential maximum speeds of 40 Mbit/s).
This is five times faster than the average UK 3G speed, which sits at 1.5 Mbit/s according to the latest data from Ofcom.
Our tests have shown that speeds of around 20 Mbit/s are achievable at the moment on the 4GEE network, though these are expected to slow down in busier areas and when more people join the new network.
EE 4G coverage:
The EE 4G network is now live in 62 cities, covering more than 50% of the UK population.
If you want to check for coverage in your area, you can use the Coverage Checker on the EE website. This will tell you not only if you have 4G but how strong the signal should be.
4G coverage from EE is promising to expand by 2,000 square miles every month, both into new cities as well as providing denser coverage in existing areas.
EE's 4G network aims to cover 70% of the population by the end of 2013 and reach more than 98% of people by 2014, as well as offering up fibre broadband internet to millions households.
EE 4G phone plans:
All the 4GEE phone plans include free unlimited calls and texts, with prices varying on the amount of data you require. There's no unlimited data plan, however.
500MB for £36
1GB for £41
3GB for £46
5GB for £51
8GB for £56
There are also SIM-only deals, should you already have bought a compatible 4G phone from Orange or T-Mobile or have an iPhone 5 bought from Apple, Carphone Warehouse or Phones4U.
EE 4G SIM-only plans:
500MB for £21
1GB for £26
3GB for £31
5GB for £36
There is a £5 upgrade option in order to use your unlimited calls and texts in selected foreign countries and avoid roaming charges, while tethering the internet connection from your phone is free as standard.
EE 4G iPad and iPad Mini
The Apple iPad and iPad Mini are also available on the EE 4G network, though the prices are a little eye-watering. The entry-level 4G prices for iPad and iPad Mini are below.
iPad 4 16GB on 4GEE
3GB £25.99 A MONTH 24 MONTH PLAN Device cost £249.99
8GB £35.99 A MONTH 24 MONTH PLAN Device cost £149.99
iPad Mini 16GB on 4GEE
8GB £35.99 A MONTH 24 MONTH PLAN Device cost £49.99
3GB £25.99 A MONTH 24 MONTH PLAN Device cost £149.99
EE Fibre Broadband
EE has also launched a superfast fibre broadband network alongside the 4G LTE network, bringing faster broadband speeds to up 11 million homes and promising download speeds of up to 76Mbps.
Plans start from £15/month and you can get a £5 discount on your 4GEE phone bill if you take EE Fibre Broadband, too.
EE Film
EE also offers EE Film, a film streaming and download service starting at 79p per film and with users given one free film a week.
You can watch on your mobile or on your TV or computer, with a clever option to pause on one device and continue where you left off on another.
What's more, EE is offering owners of an iPhone 4S, Samsung Galaxy S3 and HTC One X the chance to switch to a 4G LTE version of their phone and to an EE 4GEE contract for a fee of £99.
MORE: Mobile phone companies promise 4G won't affect Freeview TV performance
Original story published 03.10.2012
The UK's first 4G network will launch on October 30th 2012, operator EE has confirmed.
Superfast 4G mobile speeds will launch in 10 cities on October 30th, with 16 cities and around a third of the UK population set to be given access to the 4G network by the end of the year.
You can see a map of EE 4G coverage on the EE website.
Olaf Swantee, CEO of EE, formerly Everything Everywhere, announced the date in a statemement this morning.
"“We are delighted to announce that the official launch of our new customer brand, EE, offering the UK’s first superfast mobile 4G and fibre broadband service, will take place on the 30th October 2012," he said.
“This is a significant milestone for the United Kingdom, and for the people and businesses of our country who will now be able to enjoy the huge advantages of superfast 4G technology for the first time.
“We are very proud to be pioneering, innovating and leading our industry in launching 4G for our nation through our new EE brand.”
The iPhone 5 is among a handful of 4G phones that will work in the UK on the new EE 4G network. Also compatible is the Samsung Galaxy S3 LTE, the HTC One XL, the Nokia Lumia 820, Nokia Lumia 920 and the Huawei Ascend P1.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 2 LTE will also be available from October 15th.
Published 12.09.12
The iPhone 5 has been launched and EE has confirmed that it will only get superfast 4G browsing on the new 4GEE network from EE.
The UK's first and currently only 4G network, from the company formerly known as Everything Everywhere, is today stating that the iPhone 5 will "only be superfast" on 4GEE.
So it looks like if you want to make the most of the 4G iPhone then you will need to be on the 4GEE network from EE.
Pocket-lint has confirmed that customers buying the new iPhone 5 will have to first sign up with Orange or T-Mobile, the companies behind EE, as the new 4G EE network won't be ready in time for the iPhone 5 launch on the 21st September.
Customers will then be migrated across to the new 4GEE network from EE when it goes live.
Orange has also purchased a share in the 4G network in the UK that is compatible with the new iPhone 5, so Orange is expected to offer the iPhone 5 with a 4G contract at some point in the future.
O2 and Vodafone however look to have been frozen out, with the planned Ofcom auction of the 4G network not set to include the right bandwidth frequency to work on the iPhone 5.
by Joe Cox
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Comments
Three get some of that spare spectrum.
As part of the merger, EE had to release a portion of the spectrum and sell it off to other networks. Three aquired it and will be able to commence 4G services in the same band, sometime next year.
EE & Three will also be bidding for a share of the new bands, in next years spectrum auction.
EE has existing spectrum to spare (since EE is a merger of Orange and T-Mobile, they have leftover 2G spectrum which they can re-use as 4G)
The other networks do not have existing spectrum to spare, so they must bid for more when it becomes available (when the spectrum from the old analogue TV broadcasts comes up for auction)
Sour grapes? Hmm, perphaps, but when you're complaining of having to pay through the nose for 4G services because Ofcom has not allowed sufficient time for everyone to bid in a fair process, don't come complaining to the rest of us!
I would prefer there to be a fair tender and for all the networks to have a fair crack at it AT THE SAME TIME, that way we (the consumer) get the best possible price.
As it stands, it shows Oftcom to be a hypocrite!
I live in Lithuania, which is "third country" in European eyes.But we got 4G one year ago:)sound funny:)
The other can't do it, because they can't. When T-Mobile and Orange merged to become Everything Everywhere they gained lots of spare 2G spectrum - and then asked Ofcom for permission to use it for 4G, which was granted. It is sour grapes from the others as they dont have spare spectrum and will have to wait to bid for different 4G spectrum being released next year - and EE will be in for some of that too.
Perhaps the important part of the article/situation is that "Ofcom indicated it would change Everything Everywhere's licence to allow it to deliver 4G services in the UK before the end of this year". Now why are they[can they] doing this for one supplier and not the others?
That's true, they are not Apple. It's all to do with the money to be made and pricing. They don't like them getting in first and making some serious cash.
Wait until 4G knocks out your Freeview or expensive Freeview dual recorder that is supposed to affect nearly a million homes.
That should be fun, they will have to pay for you to have $$$$ky TV installed at their cost and HD which you were getting before.
They will also have to pay the monthly HD sub or you'll have no HD.
Can't wait for that to kick off.
*** Edit: Probably FreeSat and not $$$ky unless there were channels you had on Freeview but are not on FreeSat ***
It's hard to comment on this without understanding what the basis for O2, Vodafone and Three's objections are... EE are asking for permission to use existing spectrum for 4g, but why are the other operators not doing the same? Can they not do so, do they not want to do so? If it's merely a case of one operator converting its platform earlier, or having existing free space, they should surely be able to utilize that - it's sour grapes from anyone else...