EE accelerates its 4G+ rollout across Europe

EE has announced that it will be accelerating the rollout of its 4G+ network across Europe in an effort to support the latest smartphones, and meet the demand for additional data on the go. The carrier has noticed an increase in video streaming and downloading, and is moving quickly to ensure its users can continue to do all of this without interruption. EE reports that the average smartphone user with a 4G+ device, like the new Samsung Galaxy S6 or Samsung Galaxy S6 edge, consume about 4GB of data per month.

EE currently has 93 percent of its customers covered by 4G data, and looks to continue pushing the faster 4G+ network to its busiest areas to allow for more capacity, and improved reliability.

Press release:

DOWNLOADS DOUBLE FOR LONDON'S HUNGRIEST DATA USERS AS 4G+ ROLLOUT ACCELERATES

• Rollout of high frequency airwaves accelerates across the capital to support the latest 'Cat 6' smartphones and meet the demand for more data on the go
• Video streaming and downloading are the fastest growing activities for customers on the latest smartphones as data usage doubles, driven by faster modems and bigger screens
• Peak download speeds of 146Mbps seen in London as downloaders get the benefit of world-leading 4G+ network
• 4G+ is the next phase of 4G, offering twice as much capacity to customers downloading large files

9th September 2015 – EE is accelerating the rollout of high frequency spectrum for 4G+ in London to meet increasing download demands and get the maximum benefit from the latest smartphones. EE is the only UK operator with a network that can support the full speed capabilities of new 4G+ devices.

Customers with 4G+ devices on EE have downloaded more than double the amount of data in 2015 than they did on average in 2014 with the last generation of smartphones. 4G+, enabled by 'Cat 6' modems in the latest devices, gives customers twice as much capacity when they're downloading large files, like a movie, an album or a heavy document from Dropbox.

The average 4G+ device owner, including those with the Samsung Galaxy S6, S6 edge and HTC One M9, downloads 4GB of data per month. All 4GEE Extra plans from EE support 4G+ speeds up to 150Mbps at no extra cost and come with large data plans, from 500MB up to 20GB.

Video downloading and streaming on the go is the fastest growing activity for customers. Nearly 60% of data used on 4G+ smartphones is on video. The busiest 4G+ sites in London are in Victoria, Kings Cross/Euston, and Paddington, as people download movies and TV shows for train journeys.

EE CTO Fotis Karonis, said: "We've built our network with lots of capacity because we knew that video was growing at a phenomenal rate and customers need a fast connection when they're downloading large video files to their phones. We already have 4G coverage for 93% of the population across the UK and that has made us number one for mobile data, complementing our industry leading reliability and voice performance. Now with more 4G+ sites giving double the capacity in the busiest areas, we're getting even faster for our customers, and that extra capacity means improved reliability for everything you do on your phone."

EE's 4G+ sites are in London and across the busiest parts of the EE network, including in Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle, Glasgow, Nottingham, Leeds, Leicester, Oxford, Newcastle and Bristol.