EE’s latest 4G network expansion brings superfast mobile broadband 21 locations including the Cornish town of Saltash.
Saltash is the first town in Cornwall to be covered by EE’s 4G network and is officially the 250th 4G town on EE’s rollout map.
Another 20 towns across the UK are now able to tap into EE’s next-gen network which is now available to 73 per cent of the population.
Independent testing by RootMetrics has shown that download speeds experienced by EE 4G customers are around the 20-30Mbps mark.
EE’s not content with just using 4G to bring faster browsing on people’s phones, it’s also looking at how 4G can be used to patch up dodgy reception in remote areas. A ‘VoLTE’ – Voice over LTE – trial is taking place right now and promises to make calls connect more quickly as well as improve audio quality and improve signal strength.
Olaf Swantee, EE CEO, said: “This is a landmark in our work to bring superfast mobile internet to as many people in as many places as possible.
“We know the benefits that 4G offers to consumers and businesses, and we’re investing heavily in areas that have not previously had good mobile or fixed line coverage where those benefits can have an ever greater impact.”
Despite Cornwall being one of the many locations EE used to test 4G back in 2011, it’s taken since October 2012 – when EE launched 4G – for the faster mobile services to arrive in Cornwall.
In the meantime, 4G trial partners BT along with the local authority have been busy with Superfast Cornwall, a project that aims to connect 95 per cent of properties to either FTTC (Fibre to the Cabinet) or FTTP (Fibre to the Premises).
Superfast Cornwall started connecting families and companies to fibre-based broadband months before any of the BDUK (Broadband Delivery for the UK) projects started delivering in other regions of the UK. So while Cornish folk have had to wait for some 4G action, they’ve been able to get their superfast fix elsewhere while they wait.
Recently, Superfast Cornwall made good on plans to use some dormant undersea cable to connect the Scilly Isles to superfast broadband, replacing an old radio link service based on Land’s End.
Aside from Cornwall getting some 4G love, EE has also expanded its superfast network to parts of Scotland, Northern Ireland and the north west, east midlands and south west of England.
EE 4G also goes live today in Bellshill, Sutton in Ashfield, Gravesend, Craigavon, Tyldesley, Cheshunt, Swadlincote, Bishop’s Stortford, Leyland, Guiseley, Ballymena, Frimley, Ormskirk, Potters Bar, Banbridge, Nailsea, Keynsham, Armagh City, Strabane and Dungannon.
Leave a Reply