BT has finalised an agreement with EE for the mobile operator to provide Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) services for the former state monopoly’s customers and employees.
BT has ended its nine-year association with Vodafone, when that agreement was effectively nullified by Vodafone’s purchase of Cable and Wireless Worldwide in 2012. EE will provide 2G, 3G and 4G services to BT’s mobile customers, which primarily include large corporates, the public sector and SMBs.
The two companies announced last October that they were going to agree a deal, but it has taken until now for the partnership to made official, and no financial details have been disclosed.
It is unclear whether mobile services will be offered to consumers, with BT at this stage only saying it plans to build on its existing Wi-Fi network, but any such move would enable it to offer quad-play packages that are currently only available on Virgin Media.
BT was a surprise bidder in the Ofcom 4G auction of spectrum last year and it won 2.6GHz bandwidth at a cost of £186.5 million, but its plans for this bandwidth are not fully known. The 2.6GHz band has limited range, but high capacity, making it ideal for densely populated urban areas, but less useful for a national network.
It is believed that BT’s 4G spectrum is earmarked for use in conjunction with its home broadband and Wi-Fi services to improve indoor coverage.
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It is a bit to late for BT to enter the consumer market as the industry has reached saturation point. However, if the pricing is right,products and services are of a very standard as well as offering something exclusive such as BT sport on your phone, it will be a success. They must not restrict non-BT customers taking up mobile services and they should also offer a pay as you go service. BT cellnet was brilliant but the BT Mobile service introduced in 2004 was not competitive and was restricted to BT customers only.