EE, the UK’s largest cellco by subscribers, has unveiled plans to spend GBP1.5 billion (USD2.29 billion) in its network over the next three years, with the operator saying that such investment will enable it to ‘tackle the UK’s changing digital infrastructure needs, and lay the foundations for the UK to be a global leader.’
In this second phase of its network strategy EE has said it will focus on extending 4G network to more than 99% of the population and 90% of the UK’s geography, and as per its ‘Network Coverage Manifesto’, it has made a number of commitments, including: the provision of voice and 4G data coverage across 90% of the UK’s geography; the use of Micro Network technology to make mobile voice and data services available in 1,500 communities that are not currently connected by either reliable mobile or high speed broadband; the deployment of 800MHz spectrum across the EE rural network to expand its reach by more than 1,500 square miles; the introduction of voice-over-LTE (VoLTE) technology to enable calls over 4G data services to ‘thousands of homes and businesses that have never been covered by EE before’; to extend the coverage of its ‘double speed’ 4G offering to 90% of the UK population; and to bring its ‘4G+’ service, which offers download speeds of up to 150Mbps, to twenty of the UK’s busiest cities.
Commenting on the plans, EE chief executive Olaf Swantee said: ‘Stage one of our Network strategy saw us overhaul UK mobile networks, launching 4G and changing the way people and businesses use their smart devices … Today we’re announcing the next stage with a commitment to, once again, radically improve mobile coverage, this time with a strong focus on rural UK, all while continuing to increase speeds and capacity with deeper coverage in more cities.’