Everything Everywhere unveils corporate rebrand and 4G plans

Comms provider Everything Everywhere has relaunched itself as a purveyor of superfast 4G and fibre broadband, and has promised to connect 16 UK cities to its network by Christmas.

The firm has also shortened its name to "EE", which will be the branding used to describe its superfast 4G network in the UK.

EE chief executive, Olaf Swantee, said the name was already widely used within the industry, and claimed the network would be the first in the UK to offer 4G services.

The transition to EE starts today.

"It symbolises our future. It's shorter. It's snappier. It's easier to remember. The transition to EE starts today," announced Swantee at an event this morning in central London.

"Our network will be called EE. A simple, visible signal to our customers. They are now on the biggest and best network in the country."

EE has been granted permission by Ofcom to start rolling out 4G to the UK from today and, by Christmas, the firm anticipates that 16 UK cities will be able to take advantage of the technology.

These include, London, Birmingham, Cardiff, Sheffield, Glasgow and Derby.

Swantee also claims that 70 per cent of the country will have access to EE's services by the end of 2013, and 98 per cent by the end 2014.

"[We are]the UK's most advanced digital communications company...[offering] 4G service with fibre in the home. It will [help] British business. It will make people's lives easier," he added.

The firm plans to offer a range of 4G handsets, including those made by Samsung, HTC, Nokia and Huawei.

Swantee was quick to stress that the new branding would not mark the end of the Orange and T-Mobile brands in the UK, adding that they will "continue to thrive".

The three brands will "stand alongside" each other, offering choice to end users with "their own identities and propositions," said Swantee.

"EE is for those that want superfast 4G and fibre broadband. Orange is for people who want more from their phones [and] want the fastest 3G network and T-Mobile is about value."

"If you want to upgrade to EE, we will make it easy for you to do that," he added.