EE to boosts 4G network to 95% of UK
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EE to boosts 4G network to 95% of UK

EE has revealed its ambitions to expand 4G coverage from 60% of the UK to 95% by 2020, in an announcement certain to boost rural UK.

4G coverage was switched on in Shetland and the Isles of Scilly, with support from fibre broadband links that BT Group has deployed and EE's investment in coverage will focus on eradicating outdoor ‘not-spots’.

The boost is part of CEO Marc Allera’s new plans to drive improvements to the EE customer experience: “For the average smartphone user, not-spots aren’t tolerated and 2G doesn’t deliver what they need. Customers want 4G speeds everywhere they go, and mobile operators are too used to saying ‘no’ to new coverage,” he said.

“Today,  I’m saying ‘yes’, with an ambition to go further than any operator has ever gone, and with the ultimate aim of covering the whole UK with 4G.

To achieve the UK-wide 4G coverage objective, more than 750 new sites will be built. At launch, 4G was used only for data connections, with customers moving to 3G while on a call.

EE is set to roll out 4G Calling (VoLTE) across the UK to enable both voice and data over 4G. 4G Calling is already live in London, Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Belfast, Leeds and Newcastle, and will be switched on across the rest of the network by July.

EE said it will onshore 100% of service calls in the UK and Ireland by the end of 2016. Allera said: “We’re bringing 100% of our EE customer service calls back to the UK and Ireland. We’ve already seen a major boost in customer satisfaction by creating 1,400 new service jobs here since 2014. Now we’re creating 600 additional jobs to handle all EE customer service calls in the UK and Ireland by the end of this year, providing the best possible experience for our customers.”





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