EE focuses on extending 4G coverage and developing 5G

The UK’s largest mobile phone company has announced a £1.5bn (~€2bn) investment designed to tackle the UK’s changing digital infrastructure needs. It is also supporting a Horizon 2020 project developing 5G mobile network technology.

The investment will be made by EE over the next three years and is part of the company’s manifesto ‘Signalling the Future’. In this second phase of its network strategy, EE will focus on extending the reach of its 4G network to more than 99% of the UK population and enabling voice and 4G data coverage across 90% of the country’s geography.

Commenting, EE chief executive Olaf Swantee said: “Today we’re announcing the next stage [of our network strategy] with a commitment to … 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.”

Other commitments made by EE include establishing 4G+ in 20 of the UK’s busiest cities, introducing 4G Voice (or VoLTE) to allow phone calls over 4G data services, and enabling WiFi Calling on a range of smartphones to make possible mobile calls and texts with broadband from 2Mbps. EE has also promised mobile voice coverage on more than 90% of the UK’s 245,000 miles of roads by 2017 and 4G expansion to cover the country’s busiest train routes.

EE principal network architect Professor Andy Sutton also stated the company is now focusing its efforts on developing 5G technology and is supporting a Horizon 2020 project. He said: “Working closely with academic institutions, such as the 5GIC at the University of Surrey and the EU’s Horizon 2020 ‘TWEETHER’ project at Lancaster University, on technologies that are truly groundbreaking, EE will continue to change the way people think of what’s possible with mobile.”

EE runs the UK’s biggest and fastest mobile network, pioneering the country’s first superfast 4G mobile service in 2012. Last week, BT Group agreed a takeover of EE worth £12.5bn, subject to regulatory approval.