Britain’s first ever 4G mobile phone package goes on sale today. The superfast service will be on sale in over 700 EE stores with coverage spanning 11 cities including London, Leeds, Liverpool and Birmingham.
More than 5 handsets will be available from launch for the new speedy “superfast” internet connection, including the iPhone 5 and the Samsung Galaxy S3 LTE.
The launch has been hailed as a timely boost to the UK economy as it offers firms the opportunity to increase innovation, boost productivity and cut costs.
It has already been successfully trialled in countries such as the US, Sweden, Japan and Germany.
The 4G network will be available in 11 cities at launch, and rolled out to an increased 2,000 square miles every month, and the company’s Fibre Broadband will also be available to 11 million premises.
EE FIBRE Broadband promise speeds typically ten times faster than current broadband
Olaf Swantee, CEO at EE, said:
“Today is a landmark day for our company, the UK mobile industry and, most importantly, the country’s businesses and consumers.
“But this is just the start as our 4G network will continue to grow stronger and wider by the day.
”We’re investing £1.5 billion in our network to be the first company to offer mobile 4G in the UK, alongside the biggest 3G network.
”Combined with our Fibre Broadband and revolutionary service model we have a pioneering and unique offer to customers across the UK – superfast speeds in the home, superfast speeds on the move and expert service on nearly every high street in Britain.”
The launch comes as new research reveals around three quarters of businesses (74%) are planning to adopt 4G within 12 months.
The delivery of 4G and the company’s retail transformation has been underpinned by an intensive employee training programme as well as a comprehensive national IT infrastructure upgrade to ensure that EE customers receive expert service.
As well as London, Leeds, Liverpool and Birmingham in its first phase, the 4G service is going live in Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester, Sheffield and Southampton.
This means the service will be available in a further five cities before Christmas, with more cities and rural locations planned for 2013, and 98% of the population due to be covered by the end of 2014.
And today’s launch is just the start as 4G coverage from EE will INCREASE by 2,000 square miles every month, both into new cities as well as providing denser coverage in existing areas.
This will allow users to access the web on the go in an instant, download large email attachments quicker than ever and watch live TV on the move without buffering.
Additionally it will download high-definition movies in minutes, play live multiplayer games on the go and make high quality video calls on the move.
On average, 4G mobile coverage will be made available to around two million people in Britain every single month between now and 2015, making this the fastest rollout of any UK network in history.
EE Fibre Broadband offers maximum download speeds of up to 76Mbps – allowing customers to stream HDTV, play online games, watch films on demand or quickly upload or download large files.
