Trade Resources Industry Views EE Has Reached One Million 4G Customers Four Months Ahead of Target

EE Has Reached One Million 4G Customers Four Months Ahead of Target

EE, the UK's largest mobile network provider, has reached one million 4G customers four months ahead of target, the firm has said.

Launched 10 months ago, EE said its 4G service offers mobile internet at speeds that aren't only the fastest in the UK, but also faster than networks in Europe, the US and Japan.

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The speed of 4G adoption for EE has been helped by contract customers upgrading to newer smartphone models such as the Samsung Galaxy S4, BlackBerry Q10 or HTC One, which come equipped with 4G.

Until last month, EE was alone in offering 4G in the UK, having launched the country's first LTE service in September 2012. Rival network providers Vodafone and O2 began to roll out their offerings in August.

"We have seen one of the fastest adoption rates in the world and I'm immensely proud to announce today that we have reached a significant milestone - one million 4G customers," said Olaf Swantee, EE CEO.

"We know that all communities across Britain want 4G, not just those in the big urban centres, and we're committed to continuing to roll out superfast mobile at this record breaking pace," he added.

However, one million customers for 4G still only represents about four per cent of total mobile customers in the UK.

EE figures suggest that customers who've adopted 4G have changed the way they use smartphones, with almost half using fewer public Wi-Fi hotspots as they're reportedly able to stream and download data at much faster speeds.

Meanwhile, 60 per cent of 4G users consume more video content than they did with 3G, while almost one in five do more online shopping, EE claims.

However, the introduction of 4G caused problems for both T-Mobile and Orange customers, with those using the networks of the two operators who combined to become EE complaining of outages across the UK.

Computing received complaints from a number of disgruntled users, who were unable to access networks following the launch of 4G.

Source: http://www.computing.co.uk/ctg/news/2293420/ee-reaches-one-million-4g-customer-milestone#comment_form
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EE Reaches One Million 4G Customer Milestone