EE 4G coverage adds nine more towns

EE’s 4G LTE network has expanded with nine more towns in England being ‘switched on’ on January 31.

With the addition of Amersham, Bolton, Chelmsford, Hemel Hempstead, Southend-on-Sea, Stockport, Sunderland, Sutton Coldfield and Wolverhampton there are now 27 towns across the country covered by the 4G network. EE says it has also improved existing coverage to provide better quality connectivity.

EE CEO Olaf Swantee said: ‘To be ahead of schedule and covering approximately 45% of the population within just 90 days of the launch is a great achievement for our network team. We continue to bring superfast mobile to more and more people, whether they’re using their devices outdoors or in their homes and offices, and to increase the speed and consistency of our 4G and 3G network across the UK.’

EE’s 4G speed are said to be around five times faster than regular 3G and four times faster than HSPA +, however, you do pay a premium for the privilege.

A 12-month SIM-only contract costs £21 per month and although you get unlimited calls and SMS the data download cap is 500MB. On a 4G connection that limit will disappear in no time at all and for £21 per month most 3G tariffs at least throw in a handset.

EE doesn’t offer an unlimited 4G plan, the most you can get is a 20GB limit but at a staggering £61 per month charge (if you sign up before the end of February, after which it goes up).

EE’s latest addition is the BlackBerry Z10 smartphone, which will costs you £49.99 up-front as part of a £41 per month package for 24-months. This comes with 1GB of data and unlimited calls and texts.

Extensive coverage is all well and good, but we still think EE missed a trick by not pricing its 4G network at lower costs in order to bolster adoption while it enjoys a monopoly on LTE in the UK.