Company to double ‘superfast’ 4G speeds

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.

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 with more consumers using video, maps and sat-nav tools.

Double-speed services will be rolled out in 10 cities where 4G is already in place by the summer.

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

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.

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”.

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, the company said.