EE brings 4G services to a further 12 towns

EE has made its 4G services available to residents in 12 further towns, as it pushes ahead with its plan to rollout the superfast network to 70 per cent of the UK by the end of 2013.

The mobile operator said the tally of UK towns and cities benefiting from 4G stands at 62, now the network has been switched on in Aylesbury, Berkhamsted, Billericay, Blackpool, Brentwood, Dewsbury, Huddersfield, Lytham St Annes, Marlow, Pontefract, Thame and Windsor.

The company claims its 4G services are now accessible to more than 50 per cent of the UK population, and that it is on course to roll them out to an additional 18 towns and cities next month.

Olaf Swantee, chief executive of EE, said the company is on course to hit its target of providing 4G to 98 per cent of the UK population by the end of 2014.

"Our rollout of the country's first 4G mobile network is continuing at a great pace to ensure that we are connecting people right across the UK to one of the fastest mobile networks in the world, as quickly as possible," he said.

EE is the first and only mobile operator in the UK to offer 4G to its customers, with many of its rivals not expected to launch similar services until later this summer.

The company was granted permission by regulator Ofcom to reuse its 1800 MHz spectrum allocation to provide 4G services across the UK back in August 2012.

The decision has given EE a significant head start on its competitors, as many of them were unable to launch their own superfast services until the outcome of the Ofcom 4G spectrum auction was announced in February.

That's not to say it's been all plain sailing for EE, as the firm's 4G pricing and data allowances were widely criticised in the past, forcing it to cut the price of some of its services.

Despite that, the company is reported to have signed up 318,000 customers to its 4G service since it officially launched its 4G network back in September 2012.