EE 4G Prices Revealed Ahead of 30 October Launch
Prices start at £36 a month for consumers, but there are no unlimited data bundles
EE has announced consumer, corporate and small business prices for its upcoming 4G service due to launch next week.
The operator told TechWeekEurope that it had studied the 42 countries that already have LTE services for best practices and aimed to provide flexibility and cost control in its price plans.
Consumers will be forced to fork out at least £36 a month for 500MB of superfast data, while small businesses will be able to get a 1GB of allowance for £30 a month excluding VAT. A number of corporate plans have also been detailed, along with new services and customer support offerings, but there will be no unlimited data bundles.
EE 4G Prices
“We’re proud to be leading the way and pioneering the roll out of 4G in the UK. With our new brand and unique 4G and Fibre services, we will deliver consumers and businesses across the country next-generation services and a superior level of support,” said Olaf Swantee, CEO of EE.
“Our new plans have been developed to offer our customers everything they have been asking for – superfast performance, choice and value – as well as a fresh approach to pricing and customer service that offers accessibility, flexibility and guidance every step of the way,” he added.
Consumers can get 1GB of data for £41 a month, 3GB for £46, 5GB for £51 and 8GB for £56. Unlimited UK calls and texts, tethering and VoIP services are included in all price plans, which last for 24 months. Users will be alerted when their limit has been reached and they will either be able to purchase a data add-on or wait until their next billing period.
Users will also receive 500MB of free storage on the Clone Phone service which backs up contacts, calendars, photos and video via a dedicated app. They will also have access to one free film a week from EE Film as well as two-for-one cinema tickets via EE Wednesdays.
Business Deals
Small businesses plans start at £30 (excluding VAT) for 1GB of data as well as 1,000 minutes and 1,000 texts. Unlimited calls and texts cost another £5, while data allowances can be increased up to 16GB for £50 (excluding VAT).
In addition, a sharer plan gives users not only their own allowance, but also the ability to use an additional communal allowance. These start at £15 per user, or £25 with a 4GB personal allowance, with each additional 4GB costing £20.
Organisations with more than 50 employees can get a data allowance of 1GB for £8 a month, 4GB for £12.50 and 8GB for £17, with a £3 surcharge if they want to use the 4G network. Each additional MB on these plans costs 2.5p, with a price cap of £50, while users who pay an additional £3 can get an additional SIM card to share their allowances across multiple devices.
Heavy users can receive 16GB of data a month for £30, 32GB for £40, 64GB for £80 and 128GB for £160. Access to the 4G service is included, while each additional MB costs 1p with a price cap of £200.
“UK Businesses have shown considerable interest since our 4G launch intentions were announced,” said Swantee. “We hope that our new 4G plans and services will make us the most exciting digital communications business partner to work with in the UK.”
EE’s 4G service launches on 30 October in 10 cities – London, Manchester, Bristol, Birmingham, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Leeds, Liverpool, Sheffield and Glasgow – with a further six coming online ahead of Christmas. Rival LTE services from other operators are due to be rolled out next spring.
A recent TechWeekEurope poll showed that three quarters of readers were interested in a 4G network, but that price was the biggest issue.
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