EE announced that it will be investing £1.5 billion in expanding the reach of its 4G network over the next couple of years.
The telecom giant, recently acquired by BT, wants to make its network available to 99 percent of the population and provide 4G coverage in 90 percent of the UK’s land mass (of up to 60Mbps).
The company will also be rolling out its 4G+ service, offering speeds of up to 150Mbps, across 20 cities in the UK cities by 2017 and said it will soon make its Voice over LTE services available.
EE CEO, Olaf Swantee, said:
“We’re announcing a commitment to radically improve mobile coverage, this time with a strong focus on rural UK, all while continuing to increase speeds and capacity with deeper coverage in more cities.”
He added:
“Smart devices are playing an ever-increasing part in our customers’ lives in every part of the UK. With the £1.5 billion investment plan, and our unceasing desire to continually improve the breadth and performance of our network, we are at the forefront of the new mobile era that is changing customers’ lives every day.”
EE will be using Micro Network technology so that mobile data is available for people to access in over 1,500 communities that are not able to connect yet.
EE working on developing 5G services
Professor Andy Sutton, EE’s principal network architect, said that the firm is committed to developing 5G services.
“We’ve invested in 4G and taken the UK back to a position of leadership in mobile, and now we’re investing in 5G so that we can define the next step and keep us and the UK mobile industry one step ahead,” he said.
“Working closely with academic institutions such as the 5GIC at the University of Surrey … we will continue to change the way people think of what’s possible with mobile.”
