EE UK Extends 4G Mobile Coverage to Over 500 Rural Areas
Broadband and mobile provider EE (BT) has announced that, over the past year, they’ve “built or upgraded” over 500 4G (mobile broadband) sites across the UK as part of their commitment under the £1bn Shared Rural Network (SRN) project, which is also supported by O2, Vodafone and Three UK.
The SRN is an industry-led scheme – supported by a public investment of £500m and £530m from operators – that aims to help extend geographic 4G coverage to 95% of the UK by the end of 2025 (it may also help the 5G rollout). The scheme involves both the reciprocal sharing of existing masts in certain areas and the demand-led building and sharing of new masts in others between the operators.
We should add that the 95% SRN target is only when service is available from at least one operator, while the UK coverage forecast for SRN completion for all operators (i.e. geographic areas where you’ll be able to take 4G from all four operators) is actually just 84% for the same date.
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For its part, EE has upgraded 1362 sites since the SRN deal was signed in March 2020, bringing improved connectivity to each UK nation (sadly they haven’t included a detailed breakdown of the figures). The operator also plans to deliver around 900 more upgrades to rural areas of the UK by 2024.
Many of the upgrades have helped improve coverage throughout the UK’s road network. Roads getting better coverage from EE under the programme include the M1, M4 and M6 in England, A487, A489 and A4212 in Wales, A838, A85 and A90 in Scotland and A1 and A24 in Northern Ireland.
Philip Jansen, Chief Executive of BT Group, said:
“BT is committed to ensuring that even the most remote areas of the country are connected. Despite a challenging economic environment, we’re continuing to invest in rural infrastructure to achieve that. EE’s 4G has expanded by 500 square miles over the past year and we continue to be the sole provider of mobile services in many areas of the UK.”
The news comes only a few days after Three UK announced that they’d started construction of the UK’s first joint mast site in Scotland under the SRN programme (here), which will be shared by O2 and Vodafone. This reflects an earlier agreement that will see Three UK, Vodafone and O2 build 74 shared sites, which was first announced nearly two years ago in January 2021 (here).
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.
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Too little too late too long should have done that in the first place ages ago
Ohh cry me a river Mr bitter, so what should EE pull down all the masts now. Change comes gradually and isn’t even…
If only EE would actually cover areas that I need them to cover (including urban, semi urban and rural areas – which have been bad for years) then I might actually think about returning to them. But for now at least, the future is exciting. Ready?
Yes,better coverage in certain built areas,still getting below 10M in CV13 and I can see the mast from my window.Its less than 500mtrs away.
Backhaul needs to be improved.
Is that the Wellsborough mast?
Hi Jimbo you live near me in Stratford-cv37. 10 meg is pityful, I used to get that on rusty adsl. 4G typically 150 meg, 5g 666 meg down 37 meg up and 26 ping.
The idea of mobile internet where traditional is not offered is sound, but three expect you to have 2 contracts, 1 for the phone and one for the router.
What ever next buildings insurance with company a, and contents insurance with company b. Oh, and don’t forget anything in the garden or shed is not covered
I nearly moved to o2/Vodafone as in SY12 EE had coverage (of one bar 4G) just on top of the hill where I live but nowhere else. From few weeks I have actually Internet all around the place. Unbelievable. I can actually make a phone call in the local tesco or even pay with Google pay… Until recently only Vodafone and o2 had a mast in a nearby factory yard…
CO8 area, We have an EE mast in the village which I can see out of my window
Speed is atrocious less than 15Mbs
However, signal strengh and speed is far greater from “3” radiating from the Sudbury TV Mast (out of sight and the other side of a hill) 4 miles away
Would take a huge investment for little statistical gain(low population density) to improve coverage up round me, its patchy as soon as you leave the A98 onto the B roads, Now B roads may sound low priority to many in more populated areas of the country but they’re some quite significant routes up here linking towns on the A98 to towns on the A96 (14 miles Cullen to Keith)
Very lucky I get a decent 4G signal at the house (upstairs near a window only) a few of my neighbours get nothing at all