UK 4G carrier EE has revealed plans to increase its network speeds in multiple cities this coming summer. The company plans to bump speeds for Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, and Sheffield. The upgrade will see EE double the speed and capacity of its 4G network. The arrival of double-speed 4G (which EE claims enables lab speeds of 130 Mbps), will boost average speeds for 4GEE customers to more than 20 Mbps (this is double the current average).
"We are ensuring that the UK remains at the forefront of the digital revolution. 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," said Olaf Swantee, Chief Executive Officer, EE. "Our double speed 4G network will provide developers with the quality and speeds needed to develop the next wave of killer 4G apps. Whatever innovations they come up with, we’re ready," he later added.
Aside from doubling its speeds (which was achieved by doubling the amount of 1,800 MHz spectrum bandwidth dedicated to 4G from 10 MHz to 20 MHz), EE is also looking towards the next step, which is LTE-Advanced, or LTE-A. This involves carrier aggregation, which combines spectrum from different bands to boost performance, speed, and capacity.
EE launched its 4G LTE network last October with special permission from telecoms watchdog Ofcom. The company was able to launch before anyone else because it reproposed some of its existing 3G spectrum rather than waiting for Ofcom's spectrum auction in early 2013. Though the aforementioned auction is done and dusted, EE remains the only 4G LTE carrier in the UK.
