EE Upgrade 4G and Switches on 5G in Busiest UK Coastal Areas

Mobile operator EE (BT) has today announced that they’ve upgraded the mobile data (broadband) capacity of their 4G network in many of the UK’s “most popular coastal locations“, in anticipation of a bumper “staycation summer“. On top of that, they’ve also switched-on ultrafast 5G in 9 similar locations.

The upgrades will bring better coverage and increased broadband speeds in areas of high demand, which does of course tend to reflect some of the most popular places for summer staycations. The COVID-19 pandemic has ensured that such places will almost certainly be busier than ever. By comparison, international travel continues to seem like a more expensive gamble.

Overall, EE has just upgraded its 4G network in the following locations: Blackpool, Bournemouth, Brighton, Dawlish, Gt Yarmouth, Isle of Sheppey, Maldon, Porthcawl and Rhyl. A further 16 locations (see below) are expected to follow “later this summer” with similar capacity upgrades.

The enhanced 4G coverage also forms an integral part of Britain’s new Emergency Services Network (ESN), which is already providing critical communications for some first responder and emergency agencies, allowing them to stay connected whilst they fulfil their vital public safety roles.

On top of that EE has also formally switched-on their latest ultrafast 5G network in 9 similar coastal locations, including Ayr, Blackpool, Brighton, Paignton, Poole, Porthcawl, Southend-on-Sea, Swansea and Weston-Super-Mare.

Unlike other operators, EE usually only announces 5G as being live in a location if it has a minimum population of 10,000 people, within which they must also be delivering 5G coverage to “at least a third of that local population as well as the centre of the location.” By comparison, we’ve seen some other operators announce locations despite only having the smallest of coverage.

Marc Allera, CEO of BT’s Consumer Division, said:

“With many popular seaside locations expecting a busy summer, we’re pleased to be providing improved coastal connectivity.

The upgrades to our network will help ensure our customers stay connected this summer, even at the busiest times. The additional capacity delivered through improvements to our 4G network, alongside the continued roll-out of our 5G network, will help people make the most of their time at the coast, and also provide a valuable lifeline, if an emergency occurs.”

We should add that, at present, EE can only harness a 40MHz slice of the 3.4GHz radio spectrum band for dedicated 5G services (excluding dynamic spectrum sharing with 4G), but they have recently secured a further 80MHz of spectrum in Ofcom’s auction of the 700MHz and 3.6-3.8GHz bands (here). The extra spectrum should deliver improvements to data speeds and network coverage.

Nevertheless, EE have already been able to deliver ultrafast 5G speeds in many areas (c.100-150Mbps+ on average across the UK). By comparison, the average download figure for 4G on EE is more like 33-39Mbps (here and here). Remember, we’re talking UK-wide averages here and NOT peak speeds.