Mobile operator EE, which is currently in the process of being gobbled up by BT (here), has today announced that it will be investing a total of £1.5bn between now and 2017 in order to expand the coverage and speed of their 4G (LTE) based mobile network. The move also includes ensuring that 90% of the UK can access their “double speed” service.
At present EE’s “superfast” 4G (LTE at 1800MHz, 800MHz and 2.6GHz) based Mobile Broadband network is already available to 80% of the United Kingdom’s population and it should reach 98% by the end of 2015. On top of that they’re also working with the Government in order to extend the geographic coverage of national mobile networks (voice and text) from 80% today to 90% by 2017 (note: the target for 3G and 4G is 85%).
As part of all this work EE has today set out a new manifesto called Signalling the Future (PDF), which explains the commitments they’re making to improve mobile connectivity in the United Kingdom and thus how the £1.5bn will be spent. A short summary of the key points follows below.
EE’s New Commitments
* Voice and 4G data coverage across 90% of the UK’s geography.
* Using Micro Network technology to make phone calls and mobile data available in 1,500 communities that are not currently connected by either reliable mobile or high speed broadband.
* Mobile voice coverage of more than 90% of the UK’s 245,000 miles of roads by 2017, up from the current coverage of around 82%, focusing on motorways first, then A and B roads, as well as specific 4G expansion to cover the country’s busiest train routes.
* Deployment of low frequency 800MHz spectrum across the EE rural network to expand the EE’s reach by more than 1,500 square miles – an area bigger than the Lake District and Peak District National Parks combined.
* A call completion rate of 99.6% as the network carries more than 150 million calls per day.
* Introduction of 4G Voice – or VoLTE – to enable phone calls over 4G data services to thousands of homes and businesses that have never been covered by EE before.
* WiFi Calling enabled on a range of iOS, Microsoft Windows and Android devices to enable mobile calls and texts for every home, office and recreational venue with broadband from 2Mbps.
* Double speed 4G to 90% of the UK population, enabling data speeds up to 60Mbps to smartphones and tablets.
* 4G+ to twenty of the UK’s busiest cities, doubling capacity for every user and enabling 150Mbps speeds to customers with the latest devices.
* A foundation for technology and research leadership to position EE and the UK as global leaders in the 5G future.
It’s not mentioned above, but EE are also planning to trial a new 400Mbps+ upgrade at Wembley Stadium (here) later this year, although it’s too early to say how extensive any future deployment of that might become; especially in light of BT’s current acquisition (this may impact some of their future direction beyond 2017).
The operator’s CEO, Olaf Swantee, said: “Today we’re announcing the next stage with a commitment to, once again, radically improve mobile coverage, this time with a strong focus on rural UK, all while continuing to increase speeds and capacity with deeper coverage in more cities.”
It’s worth pointing out that Three UK, O2 and Vodafone are also putting similarly significant investment into network coverage and performance upgrades for many of the same reasons.
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