Leeds and Sheffield to get double-speed 4G broadband

SPEEDS of “superfast” 4G broadband services are to double in ten cities including Leeds and Sheffield, provider EE announced today.
Speeds of "superfast" 4G broadband services are to doubleSpeeds of "superfast" 4G broadband services are to double
Speeds of "superfast" 4G broadband services are to double

Average speeds on the network currently range between 8Mbps and 12Mbps but this is to be given a boost to more than 20Mbps.

The service is expected to enable users to surf the web much more quickly on mobile phones.

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Olaf Swantee, EE’s chief executive officer, said headline speeds would reach more than 80Mbps and the benefits would be brought in for both new and current subscribers.

“We are ensuring that the UK remains at the forefront of the digital revolution,” he said.

“Having already pioneered 4G here, we’re now advancing the country’s infrastructure again with an even faster, even higher-capacity network, and at no extra cost to our customers.”

Since launching 4G, the company said it had observed a “huge shift” in the way people use mobile phones. This includes an increase in the number of consumers using video, maps and sat-nav tools.

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Double-speed services will be rolled out in ten cities where 4G is already in place by the summer.

These include Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester and Sheffield.

The announcement comes just weeks after 4G was extended to the Northern Fells in Cumbria, one of the UK’s most rural regions, for the first time.

The service is now available in 50 towns and cities across the country. EE aims to reach one million 4G customers by the end of the year.

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EE said it would also double the amount of spectrum bandwidth dedicated to 4G to give customers better access to “some of the fastest mobile speeds in the world” while “revolutionising working practices”.

With newly boosted speeds, customers should be able to upload or download pictures in high definition with greater resolution or view and share videos without delay.

EE said its enhanced services would mean a “truly mobile office” could become a reality, with smartphones, tablets and laptops all connected by a 4G mobile Wi-Fi device.

It expects mobile data traffic to grow by as much as 750% in the next three years.

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Matthew Howett, telecoms regulation analyst at research firm Ovum, said EE’s latest move would pose a challenge to its competitors who plan to roll out 4G services later this year.

“Given EE’s large and contiguous holding of spectrum at 1800MHz, this puts them in a very strong position and makes it more difficult for their peers to play catch-up once they launch networks in the coming weeks and months,” he added.

He suggested that today’s announcement showed EE was also keen to “dampen rumours” of weak take-up.

Ernest Doku, telecoms expert at comparison site uSwitch.com, said the introduction of double-speed 4G could help “cushion the blow” of any extra costs for the service.

“Super-fast just got even faster,” he said.

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“EE was the first to bring 4G to UK mobile users, unleashing the full potential of today’s hi-tech devices, and today’s announcement sees the provider put more daylight between itself and the competition.”

He added: “Speeds now more than seven times faster than 3G could convince more mobile users to make the leap to EE - particularly if 4G can price itself to look like a viable alternative to those unable to receive fibre-optic broadband in their areas.”

But he said the new speeds could be a “double-edged sword” for mobile users worried that their data bills could soar with faster browsing.

EE, which was formed from the merger of Orange and T-Mobile, was the first company to offer a 4G network in the UK and others are expected to follow suit in the coming months.

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For the typical user, download speeds of initial 4G networks should be at least five to seven times faster than those of existing 3G networks.

EE, formerly known as Everything Everywhere, plans to extend the service to around 80 locations - and approximately 55% of the UK population - by June.

Prices start at £15.99 per month.