EE, the UK’s biggest mobile operator announced plans to increase its 4G coverage with the aspiration of taking 4G to the very edges of the UK.
The investment in coverage will focus on filling in outdoor ‘notspots’ in current 4G areas, and expanding 4G coverage from a UK-leading position of 60% landmass today towards an objective of 95% by 2020.
To achieve the ambitious UK-wide 4G coverage objective, EE said that more than 750 new sites will be built. Today, EE’s 4G coverage reaches around 60% of UK geography, equal to approximately 95% of the population. Providing 4G coverage to 95% of the UK geography, would ensure ‘near-complete’ 4G coverage for the UK’s population (99.8%).
At launch, 4G was used only for data connections, with customers moving to 3G while on a call. Now, EE is rolling out 4G Calling (VoLTE) across the UK to enable both voice and data over 4G. This will ensure customers get superfast 4G data speeds while on calls and that customers can make calls in new areas of the network that are 4G-only. 4G Calling is already live in London, Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Belfast, Leeds and Newcastle, and will be switched on across the rest of the network by July.
Marc Allera, CEO EE
For the average smartphone user, not-spots aren’t tolerated and 2G doesn’t deliver what they need. Customers want 4G speeds everywhere they go, and mobile operators are too used to saying ‘no’ to new coverage. Today, I’m saying ‘yes’, with an ambition to go further than any operator has ever gone, and with the ultimate aim of covering the whole UK with 4G.
