EE Doubles 4G Customer Base To 4.2 Million

EE doubled its 4G customer base to 4.2 million subscribers during the first half of 2014, with 1.3 million of those added during the second quarter – the most ever by a European operator, it claims.

The company attributed a 1.3 percent rise in operating revenues during H1 to £3 billion to strong demand for LTE and postpaid deals from both consumers and businesses, with 72 percent of new customers and 88 percent of new B2B customers opting for 4G.

There was also strong desire for 4GEE Extra Plans, which offer double speeds and inclusive roaming, with the total of net additions to the LTE network totalling 156,000, or 240,000 including M2M connections.

EE 4G Customers

EE says there are now 5,500 corporates using 4G, with the company winning contracts for Deloitte and Essex Police during the period. The operator claims LTE makes business more productive, with 4G users working on their device for 44 minutes a day compared to 35 minutes for those on 3G.

“Today’s results demonstrate that consumers and businesses are responding to our strategy to provide the UK’s biggest, fastest and most reliable network,” says EE CEO Olaf Swantee. “We are delivering on our goals to rapidly transition our pay monthly customer base to 4G, generate significant merger cost savings and improve our EBITDA margin performance.”

EE comfortably has the most 4G customers and widest coverage of any operator, with 73 percent of the UK population able to access its LTE service, which launched ten months ahead of any of EE’s rivals in November 2012.

The operator has sought to maintain this advantage through cheaper contracts, shared data plans and pay-as-you-go tariffs, alongside other innovations such as its own-brand EE Kestrel smartphone and in-car Wi-Fi packages and says it is on track to reach six million LTE customers by the end of 2014.

Do you know all about 4G and the mobile future? Take our quiz.