EE 4G Had 350,000 Pokemon Go Players Before Official UK Launch

More than 350,000 people downloaded Pokemon Go on EE’s network before the app was officially made available on Android and iOS in the UK.

Pokemon Go has proved phenomenally popular and the launch has been staggered to help developer Niantic cope with demand.

Read More: What Pokemon Go means for IT departments

Pokemon Go

Australia, New Zealand and the US were the first to get their hands on the augmented reality (AR) game, but many British gamers were left envious by posts on social media, and found other ways to download the application.

Methods included ‘sideloading’ the application onto an Android device or using a foreign App Store account on iOS. However this desire has raised a number of security issues, such as dodgy APK files and fake applications. This is before privacy and productivity concerns are factored in.

EE says it has seen 350,000 unique users on its network and says some customers have used VPNs in their quest to ‘catch em all’. In just a few days it has overtaken Candy Crush Saga as the most popular game of all time on its network.

“This is the fastest take up of an app or game we’ve ever seen – and that’s before it’s officially launched!” claimed Matt Stagg, head of video and content strategy at EE.

Naturally, EE is boasting that its 4G coverage – the widest of any UK operator – makes it the best network to play the game on. It has plans to cover 95 percent of the UK’s landmass by 2020, but it remains to be seen whether people will still be playing Pokemon Go by then.

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