UK’s EE Doubling 4G Network Speeds in 10 Locations

by Jason Bracey on Apr 10th 2013, 12:19am
tagged 4gee, EE, uk

EE, one of the UK’s most advanced communications company, has announced it will double its current 4G speeds for its customers. They plan to launch the faster network in Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, and Sheffield by summer 2013.

In order to increase speeds to what they are calling “4GEE“, they will need to increase both their network’s capacity and coverage. EE will double the amount of 1800MHz spectrum capacity bandwidth from 10MHz to 20MHz. According to EE’s Chief Executive Officer, Olaf Swantee, “We are ensuring that the UK remains at the forefront of the digital revolution. Having already pioneered 4G here, we’re now advancing the country’s infrastructure again with an even faster, even higher-capacity network, and at no extra cost to our customers.” » Read the rest

HTC First to be an EE exclusive in the UK

by Robert Nazarian on Apr 5th 2013, 9:42am
tagged EE, HTC, HTC First

In the U.S., the HTC First is an AT&T exclusive, but in the UK it’s going to be EE. No word on pricing or availability, but we are assuming it will become available soon after the U.S. April 12 launch.

The HTC First is the first and only phone to have the complete Facebook Home experience out of the box. Of course, people can still enjoy Facebook Home on other phones by downloading the app (starting April 12), but it will only be available on the Galaxy S III, Galaxy Note II, Galaxy S 4, the One X, and the One X+, at least for now.

source: Slashgear

EE Turns On 4G In 13 New Locations, Now Covers 50% Of The UK

by Mike Stenger on Mar 28th 2013, 11:35am
tagged 4G, EE, Everything Everywhere

EE has been making strides in the UK and just announced 4G speeds available in 13 more locations. Customers in Bradford, Bingley, Doncaster, Dudley, Harpenden, Leicester, Lichfield, Loughborough, Luton, Reading, Shipley, St Albans and West Bromwich are now covered. EE now covers 50 regions with 4G and with this latest rollout, covers 50 percent of the UK. The carrier also plans on rolling out 4G speeds to 30 more towns and cities by June. You can read the full press release below and if you’re looking to grab the Galaxy S 4, EE started pre-orders today. » Read the rest

EE confirms smartphone activations fall in Q4 2012, 4G LTE to blame?

by Roy Alugbue on Feb 19th 2013, 9:36am
tagged 4G LTE, EE

So we thought that EE’s launch of its super-fast LTE network would be welcome with open arms, but it appears there’s a slower adoption rate than expected. According to the 2012 year-end results from the wireless carrier, there were only 201,000 new subscribers for Q4, which is a mild disappointment to say the least. Fortunately, the wireless carrier was able to utilize its growing LTE network to springboard more of its customers into embracing smartphone use, which falls in line with some studies that we’ve heard before.

It’ll probably be a while before UK mobile users shy away from those HSPA+ networks until carriers like EE come up with a compelling reason for why LTE should be used. EE will certainly have its work cut out for it in the meantime.

source: EE

EE Confirms It Will Carry The Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 LTE And Nexus 7 Tablets

by Roy Alugbue on Dec 14th 2012, 9:05am
tagged 4G LTE, EE, Everything Everywhere, Nexus 7, Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1

What do you do if you’re EE and have an ever-growing 4G LTE network to tout? You announce the availability of some new devices of course. EE has gone ahead and announced its plans to sell the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 LTE and a Nexus 7 + 4G Mifi bundle. While the prices aren’t exactly competitive, EE has different price options & data bundles for both devices:

» Read the rest

EE Turns On 4G LTE Coverage In Additional UK Markets

by Roy Alugbue on Dec 13th 2012, 8:53am
tagged 4G LTE, EE, hspa, Orange UK, T-Mobile UK

It’s no surprise that EE is a pioneer in not only bringing 4G LTE devices to the UK, but bringing 4G LTE coverage to various markets and areas as well. Today the wireless carrier has announced it is flipping on the 4G LTE switch to the following markets in the UK: Bradford, Chelmsford, Coventry, Doncaster, Dudley, Leicester, Luton, Newport, Reading, Rotherham, St Albans, Sunderland, Sutton Coldfield, Walsall, Watford, West Bromwich and Wolverhampton. That means those of you living in one of those cities will finally be able to enjoy the true 4G speeds from today. In addition, EE has also announced a major enhancement to its existing 3G HSPA+ by upgrading its 3G pipeline to a dual-channel HSPA+… also known as DC-HSPA+ for short. The DC-HSPA+ upgrade should be ready by the end of this year and should be available to approximately 40% of all EE, Orange & T-Mobile customers with a compatible handset.

Now if we can only do something about those steer 4G LTE prices, customers will really be in business. Full details can be found in the presser once you hit the break.

» Read the rest

Wireless customers to get free WiFi on London Underground in early 2013

by Jared Peters on Nov 21st 2012, 11:57am
tagged EE, london underground, virgin media, Vodafone, wifi

Earlier today, EE announced on Twitter that customers would be able to receive free WiFi on the London Underground. There was also speculation that it would also include Virgin Media customers, and also provide free WiFi in 72 underground stations in London. Fast-forward through the day, and tweets were deleted, comments were declined from both parties, and it seemed like EE might’ve jumped the gun on the free WiFi announcement. » Read the rest

EE Announces Additional Rollout Of 4G LTE Service To 11 Additional Markets

by Roy Alugbue on Oct 30th 2012, 8:30am
tagged 4G LTE, EE, LTE, Orange UK, T-Mobile UK

It’s no secret that 4G LTE has been a luxury only to a select few in the UK, but now more customers will be able to get in on the action thanks to wireless carrier EE. It has announced it will launch the incredibly fast network service to its customers in 11 markets including Bristol, Birmingham, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Sheffield and Southampton. While that’s a major start, EE doesn’t stop there as it has announced it plans to bring 4G LTE service to an additional 5 markets by year’s end. This means that those of you who plan on owning the Galaxy S III or HTC One XL will have a lot to look forward to— especially since you’ll likely be taking advantage of cutting edge features like streaming high-quality audio or video and the ability to access much more content or download faster on the go.

Everything Everywhere to launch UK’s first 4G LTE network October 30th

by Colton Kaiser on Oct 3rd 2012, 6:50pm
tagged 4G LTE, EE, Everything Everywhere, Galaxy Note II LTE

Everything Everywhere has just revealed its plans to launch the United Kingdom’s first 4G LTE network on October 30th. The carrier’s CEO, Olaf Swantee, also announced that the new network will cover ten major UK cities at launch, including London, Manchester, Sheffield, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds and Liverpool.

Details remain scarce, as pricing hasn’t been determined just yet. However, this news arrives on the same day as the company released its first slew of LTE-capable devices. And, just yesterday the carrier made it known that it would be offering the Samsung Galaxy Note II LTE. Read on for the carrier’s full statement.

» Read the rest

UK 4G ready for widespread rollout after agreement between regulators, providers

by Jeff Causey on Oct 3rd 2012, 11:30am
tagged 4G LTE, EE, O2, settlement, spectrum, uk, Vodafone

Several UK mobile network providers, the UK’s communications regulator Ofcom, and other government officials have announced a deal that will accelerate the rollout of 4G LTE services throughout the UK. The settlement means carriers like O2 and Vodafone will likely be able to start deploying their 4G LTE networks in early 2013, about six months earlier than originally thought.

UK carrier EE was previously granted permission to use some of their existing 1800 MHz spectrum for 4G LTE network purposes and they were expected to start that rollout this fall. However, other UK carriers like O2 and Vodafone had been threatening to launch legal action claiming the permission to use the spectrum for 4G services was improper and that EE was being given an unfair advantage. Ofcom has now agreed to accelerate the approval process for 4G LTE services for other carriers after a planned January action of old analog television spectrum occurs in January 2013.

With the agreement, EE is anticipated to announce the imminent launch of their 4G LTE network. They have indicated they have plans to deploy the service to 16 UK cities before the end of the year and to 98% of the UK by 2014. Other carriers will be behind with their deployments which should now occur sometime in early 2013, but with the agreement the head start that EE gets will not be as great.

The settlement means the UK will be able to start to catch back up to other countries that already have 4G LTE services well established. As Ed Richards, Ofcom’s chief executive notes, consumers are the big winners as they will not have to wait for “a considerable period for the next generation of mobile broadband services.”

source: BBC