EE UK Launch 4G LTE Alternative to Home Broadband and Trial 300Mbps

Mobile operator EE UK has announced a series of major new 4G (LTE at 1800MHz) based enhancements for November 2013, which include a trial of 300Mbps service speeds in London and the launch of a new superfast “Home Broadband” style product that uses their Mobile Broadband network. Bigger data allowances are also on the way.

Most of the new developments are expected to surface on 30th October 2013 and will be used to mark the first anniversary of EE’s introduction of a national 4G service across the United Kingdom. At present the network is available in 117 towns and cities (60% of the population – reaching 98% by the end of 2014) and many of those are also benefitting from the operators on-going “double speed” upgrade to 150Mbps (i.e. average speeds of 24-30Mbps).

The operator has now announced that it intends to go one step further by leveraging the benefits of their extra spectrum capacity to launch a second double speed upgrade in the space of a year, which will offer download speeds of up to 300Mbps! A trial of the new speed will be conducted in London during November and a wider rollout is “planned for 2014“.

But perhaps the most interesting aspect for ISPreview.co.uk readers will be their new 4G powered Home Broadband plans for areas of the UK not served by superfast fixed broadband (FTTC). The operator claims that this new service “will offer huge benefits to rural areas and reaffirms EE’s commitment to bringing 4G to as many people as possible“.

In addition a separate “converged” 4G and Home Broadband bundle will shortly be made available, which allows the operators 4GEE mobile subscribers to get a 10GB data usage allowance boost at “no extra charge” if they also sign-up to EE’s fixed line unlimited home broadband ISP service.

Olaf Swantee, CEO of EE, said:

“One year after launch, we’ve extended the world’s fastest network across 60% of the United Kingdom. But we want to bring the power of 4GEE to even more people. That’s why this month we are launching new plans for light users, super users, regular users, data sharers and Britain’s mobile workforce up and down the country.

Whether they want the flexibility of pay as you go, the UK’s most affordable monthly plans, or to make the most from their smartphone with the world’s fastest speeds and biggest data bundles, EE is the number one 4G network.”

More details on their new home 4G service are expected to surface soon and a launch should follow in November. This new service, which clearly has a focus on rural areas, is most likely to be based off their 4G Fixed Wireless Access solution. EE are serving a number of rural premises in the Northern Fells area of Cumbria (England) with similar technology from £15.99 a month as part of a £1.5m investment (details). The average speeds of 8-12Mbps are hardly “superfast“, although clearly EE can improve upon that.

On top of all this EE has also announced a range of new mobile packages, which includes a series of new 4G pay-as-you-go handset plans. In addition, from launch until 31st January 2014, every customer who buys a 4GEE PAYG handset from an EE shop or their website will receive an additional, one off, 10GB of mobile data to help get them started.

The operator has also adopted a new a new two-tiered approach to 4G pay monthly handset plans that splits the service price by 4G speed. Finally, EE has announced a series of new dedicated 4GEE Mobile Broadband (USB Modem / Dongle) packages, which will cost £36 a month for a 20GB data bundle or £50 for 50GB. Not exactly cheap but an improvement.