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Over the past two months alone, EE added 1.7 million customers, bringing its total number of 4G subscribers to 7.7 million. This growth outpaces every other operator in Europe and far exceeded EE’s internal year-end target of 6 million, reflecting the UK mobile operator’s rapid expansion.
EE’s network has provided access to superfast broadband for the first time in many areas.
Throughout 2014, EE extended its network to cover 350 additional towns and cities, bringing 4G availability to 510 population centers of 10,000 people or more. As a result, EE’s 4G network now reaches about 80% of the UK population, and the company aims to expand that reach to 98% by the end of 2015.
That surge in subscribers and coverage has driven traffic to increase by roughly 600%. Despite the growth in usage, EE’s network continues to be recognized as one of the most reliable 4G services in the UK. EE attributes much of the increased upload and download activity to customers sharing photos and videos on social platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, and streaming content from services like BBC iPlayer, YouTube and Sky Go.
In the final months of 2014, EE also extended service to around 1,000 villages and small towns in rural areas, bringing superfast broadband to communities that previously lacked it. This stronger rural footprint may be of particular interest to BT as talks of a potential £12.5 billion merger with the country’s largest mobile network draw attention to the complementary strengths each company could bring to the combined business.
EE’s 4G network is now accessible to 80% of the population and is on-target to reach 98% by the end of 2015.
Under a possible combined strategy, BT would continue to rely on its fiber-based infrastructure and city-wide Wi-Fi hotspots to deliver high-speed connectivity in urban areas, while EE’s expanding 4G footprint would provide a robust fallback and primary service in rural locations where fixed-line coverage is more limited. That balance between urban fiber and rural mobile coverage helps explain why consolidation between the companies could make strategic sense.
To handle the increased demand, EE says it doubled available capacity across its entire 4G network during 2014. In London and other high-traffic areas, the operator is rolling out 4G+ (carrier aggregation) to boost capacity and sustain the speeds and reliability users expect as more people stream video and share content on-the-go.
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