BT and Meta Deploy Congestion Awareness Tech to Improve EE UK Mobile Streaming
Broadband and telecoms giant BT (EE) have teamed-up with social media giant Meta to develop and deploy a new technology that aims to make watching online videos via Facebook and Instagram more reliable for EE mobile customers, even during periods of high network demand.
Sadly, even modern mobile broadband networks can sometimes come under pressure from wider network congestion during peak times of usage, which can result in periods of buffering or drops in video quality. In response, BT and Meta recently piloted a new technology to improve this for users of Meta’s social media platforms.
The pilot saw the two teams test a smarter approach to video delivery using new congestion awareness technology that adapts automatically during busy periods, easing potential pressure on the network while maintaining a good experience for customers.
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The details are limited, but BT states that, rather than the usual approach of delivering video in the same way regardless of conditions, this tech from Meta intelligently responds when parts of the network are under pressure. “By making small, real-time adjustments when detecting high cell load during peak moments, it reduces the amount of data needed without noticeably affecting video quality,” said the announcement.
The result is that more people can keep watching without interruptions, while also saving network capacity. In addition, the tech supports a more consistent experience when using video apps in busy areas like city centres, transport hubs or large events.
BT Statement
The pilot delivered strong results, including a 6–8% bitrate reduction when congestion was identified and around a 4% reduction in traffic to congested cells – all while maintaining a high-quality experience for EE customers using Facebook and Instagram. That means fewer slowdowns and a more reliable video streaming experience on mobile data.
This latest work builds on BT and Meta’s earlier collaboration to improve video performance for EE customers, further demonstrating how closer coordination between networks and platforms can support growing demand. As video continues to play a central role in everyday life, initiatives like this show how incremental innovation behind the scenes can deliver meaningful benefits for customers – while helping networks remain efficient into the future.
The new congestion awareness technology has now been rolled out across the EE network, and Meta will expand the solution to other markets and partners throughout 2026.
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads.net and Linkedin.
Could EE concentrate on allowing me to send an iMessage or open a website when I’ve got 3 bars of 5G but no throughput please?
I don’t think see why EE should stop making background network enhancements which benefit everybody to focus on one congested mast. It does happen but compared to the other three networks I’ve found EE to have the least congestion issues.
Perhaps if people tried all 4 networks (I’m assuming Three and Vodafone to be separate networks for the sake of argument), rather than believing the network coverage maps, then maybe the best network for your particular location could be established.
I’ve been with EE/BT for over a decade and live in a highly populated city centre. EE Has never failed me despite the network demand.
Sure enough, if you’re mid contract then find out which network’s best for you and ditch your current provider when your contact ends.
It’s much better than to pay more for a good service than to opt for a cheaper deal with poor service.
There is one problem you missed when you are on about the best network for your particular location. The whole point of a mobile network is that you can use it while mobile. so different locations. For many people these days, it makes little difference at home if they have broadband at home as their phone, tablet, computer, whatever is normally connected to their home network. A lot of these people also use Wi-fi calling.
So I would say it is pretty important to get a signal in other places, go to our city centre and it is a wildcard for all the networks, depending on where you are. There is Wi-fi, but a lot of people would not know it is there. The sign up ask far to many questions, so that will put some people off. Also, by all accounts it doesn’t support Wi-fi calling and it fails in some shops and cafe anyway.
So yes, having a mobile network that works while mobile is a good idea. so tell me, how do you test all networks in all places without spending a lot of money?
We have had long enough to get networks reliable, if they was bothered more about reliability instead of stupid speeds that most people don’t care about, we may be better off.
But having high speed sounds better and sell better,.
Just in case someone comes out with it, because I am sure they will. I know not all MVNO supports Wi-fi calling and not all phones do and that not everyone has broadband in their home. So for those people, yes a good mobile network is required where they live.
No doubt I missed something out, but such is life.
No problem: your default DNS provider should definitely share your cell-site location and sector triangulation with Meta, along with all your other live DNS requests from your other mobile apps. This will save 4% bandwidth — no harm in that. It’s not like BT has Phorm in this respect. And you know you can trust Meta with that information.
No problem indeed. Location isn’t being shared with Meta. Neither are DNS requests.
Open up sites in a Meta app via built-in browser it’ll slurp data but that’s not down to EE.
Didn’t Vodafone and Meta do something similar with Instagram reels about 1-2 years ago? Vodafone was also vague about what they mean by optimise.