EE UK Fixed Broadband Customers Grow to 745000 as 4G Users Hit 2.9m

Mobile operator and ISP EE UK has recorded one of its best quarters of fixed line broadband subscriber growth after it added more than +19,000 customers in Q1-2014 to total 745,000 (up from +12k in Q4-2013). Meanwhile their 4G mobile customer base grew from 1,996,000 in Q4-2013 to reach 2.9m now (+889k in the quarter).

The provider claims that its strong fixed line broadband growth has been “driven by attractive combined fixed/mobile promotions” (i.e. existing EE, T-Mobile and Orange UK users benefit from a -£10 discount), although it would be nice to know how many of their fixed line customers have also taken 4G and superfast FTTC services as the two should complement each other (customer retention tool).

The good growth also comes despite Ofcom’s recent launch of an investigation into EE’s consumer complaints handling practices (here) and the raising of security concerns with their older BrightBox routers (here). However it must be stressed that the providers complaint volumes appear to be falling (here).

Neal Milsom, Chief Financial Officer of EE, said:

“We are delivering strong, consistent commercial performance and continue to successfully create value through our award winning network. We signed up nearly 900,000 4G customers in a single quarter, with over one in four new customers opting for EE’s exclusive double speed 4GEE Extra plans. In line with our vision to provide the best network and best service, we’re also further improving customer service across all channels to support our long term growth.”

Elsewhere EE reported a quarterly turnover of £1,548m (-3.6% year-on-year comparison) and service revenue of £1,486m (-1.7%), which is partly due to their on-going investment into 4G services and related spectrum bands. As a side note EE still operates an old narrowband (dialup) Internet service, which has seen its customers decline from 5,000 to 4,000 in the latest quarter.

On top of that their 4G service now reaches 72% of the UK population (46m people, covering 200 towns and cities) and their “double speed” 4G (max of 150Mbps) service is available across the UK’s 20 largest cities (covering 25% of the population as of April 2014). EE has also launched a 4G LTE based Fixed Wireless Access alternative to Home Broadband in isolated rural areas (here) and plans to start boosting their mobile 4G speeds up to 300Mbps later this summer (here).