EE UK Growth Boost to 726K Home Broadband Users as 4G Reaches 2 Million

Telecoms operator EE has released its latest Q4-2013 financial results and revealed that their fixed line Home Broadband subscriber base added +12k new customers in the quarter to total 726,000 (up from +10k added in Q3), while their 4G based Mobile Broadband users went from 1.2m in Q3 to 1.996m now.

The results appear to be quite promising for EE’s fixed line broadband base, which after years of decline (most of it under Orange UK) has now begun to show several quarters of growth. Unfortunately EE doesn’t reveal how many of their fixed line customers also have their 4G service and we suspect that the two are feeding off one another (i.e. a customer retention tool).

Indeed the latest report says, “fixed broadband is rapidly becoming a more integral part of the company, with a greater emphasis on cross-selling mobile and fixed products“. But take note that their fixed broadband packages sell with a £10.00 monthly discount for EE, T-Mobile and Orange mobile customers in their network area; without that discount they’re not as attractive to other non-EE based consumers.

Olaf Swantee, CEO of EE, said:

“We successfully executed our strategy, growing our pay monthly base, delivering our targeted cost savings and achieving our best margin yet, all while cementing EE’s position as the UK’s best network for consumers and businesses alike. 2013 was the year of 4G, with two million customers enjoying the benefits of superfast connectivity on Britain’s most awarded network.”

At the last count EE’s “superfast” 4G (LTE at 1800MHz) based Mobile Broadband network had managed to reach 70% of the United Kingdom’s population and the operator appears to have big plans for the coming year. This includes further network expansion, the long awaited launch of their next 4G double speed boost to 300Mbps (Megabits per second) and possibly bidding for a slice of the government’s new £10m Competitive Fund to help expand the reach of their rural focused 4G Fixed Wireless home broadband solution.

Otherwise EE reported an annual turnover of £6,482m (-2.6% year-on-year) and service revenue of £5,734m (-3.7%), which is partly due to their on-going investment into 4G services and related spectrum bands.