EE boosts 4G download speeds up to 150Mbps

EE is doubling 4G speeds for new and existing customers beginning on 4July for no extra charge, as the network looks to maintain its advantage over competitors.

The operator also shared details about its shared 4G plans, a summer promotion to attract more customers, and a joint venture with MasterCard to boost the use of NFC payments.

EE said 4G speeds will be doubled in 12 cities initially. These include Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Derby, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Nottingham and Sheffield.

Users in these cities can expect average speeds of between 24 30 Mbps, and Olaf Swantee, CEO of EE, claimed this makes the UK arm of the network one of the fastest in the world.

"It's faster according to Rootmetrics than networks in the United States, faster than any other 4G European network and in-line with the fastest networks in Korea," he said at the launch event in London earlier today.

"[We expect] topline speeds of up 150Mbps. To explain that in real terms for customers if you have a typical broadband [connection] at home and you're not using fibre, you will typically see speeds five times [faster]."

Swantee added that the need for faster speeds is paramount as the EE engineers are estimating 750 per cent growth in data over the next three years. The increased need to upload HD content is also driving the need for infrastructure.

Shared 4G plans

EE announced it was launching Shared 4GEE Plans in June, and has now provided details about what this will entail.

The plans will require a "lead sharer" who is responsible for the payment. EE offers 1GB for 31, 1.5GB for 36, 2GB for 41, 10GB for 46 and 20GB for 51.

It's possible to share the allowance with up to four other users. Everytime a user is added to the plan, the cost per month increases by 5. EE claims this helps to save users money and simplifies the process by only presenting one bill.

Shared 4GEE Plans for corporate, medium and small businesses are slightly different. They are offered a 24 month contract and have four plans to choose from starting at 35 for 2GB up to 50 per month for 32GB.

Summer promotion

When 4G was launched EE suffered some backlash and there where complaints the pricing was too high. Despite this, the firm has amassed 500,000 4G subscribers and, in an attempt to sign up even more, the network will be launching a promotion between 17 July and 30 September.

Depending on the data allowance you choose, users could get quadruple the amount of data.

The new prices are as follows:

• 26 for 500MB
• 31 for 1GB
• 36 for 1.5GB
• 41 for 2GB
• 46 for 10GB
• 51 for 20GB

Cash on Tap

In an attempt to boost the use of NFC payments, EE has teamed up with Mastercard to offer the Cash on Tap service. This allows users to make payments for good and services up to the value of 20 and is accepted in 230,000 retail stores. EE also offers 10 credit for users when they sign up.