Last week, EE publicly flipped the switch on its 4G network. Launching LTE in London, Bristol, Birmingham, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield and (parts of) Southampton. EE also plans for an additional five cities before the new year. The new phone network, composed of equal parts T-Mobile and Orange, has other plans — and they start from £21 SIM-only (starting November 9th) while phone packages begin at £36 per month. For that, the new network offers its customers 500MB of data, plus unlimited calls and texts.
The data plans scale up from there, all the way up to 8GB of monthly data, alongside a system of on-off data bundles. So being an earlier adopter comes at a very specific cost — are the wonders of a next-generation network worth it? We inserted a fresh EE 4G SIM into an iPhone 5 and now have been using it for over a week, get our full verdict after the break.
iZettle has just launched its Android and iOS payment platform on EE in the UK, giving small businesses a cheap way to get paid through Visa, American Express, Diner’s Club and Mastercard. For a £20 fee in EE stores, you can grab the scanner (shown above) and start accepting charge card payments through your iPhone, iPad and certain Android devices with no other fees except for the usual merchant grab — 2.75 percent per transaction in this case. Sales can even be keyed in manually if you don’t want the scanner, and the company claims the system is quick and “totally secure.” So, if you’re tired of chasing down that deadbeat client who keeps saying “too bad you don’t take Amex,” hit the PR after the jump.
LTE has gone live in the UK, with EE opening up its 4G doors to subscribers hoping for a little extra boost in their smartphone or mobile hotspot. The launch – which has hardly left rival UK carriers happy, waiting as they are for more spectrum before they stage their own LTE deployment in mid-2013 – sees smartphone plans from £36 per month with a device, while EE is also offering fiber broadband for homes and businesses.
That fiber option promises up to 76 Mb/sec, with plans starting from £25 per month. There’s also the promise of a £5 monthly discount if you’re also an LTE subscriber, while EE also offers a regular (i.e. non-fiber) broadband package priced from £5 per month, for those with more humble speed needs.
All of EE’s mobile plans come with unlimited calls and messaging, though some LTE-hopefuls were disappointed by the data limits the carrier had opted for. £36 gets you a mere 500MB, while bundles up to 8GB are available; EE says it has made for better value by throwing in numerous extras, such as free movie rentals and cloud backup for devices.
EE Film isn’t just for EE subscribers, either; the app is available for subscribers of other networks, too. It’s currently to be found in the Google Play store, though is also promised for iOS at some point in time. More information here.
Today marks the launch of the UK‘s first 4G network, with EE switching on its service in 11 cities: London, Bristol, Birmingham, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield and Southampton. If you don’t have access immediately, you might not be waiting long, as the company promises 2,000 square miles of 4G network will be added every month from now on. This £1.5 billion investment means five cities will join the exclusive list before Christmas, and in the longer-term, 98 percent population coverage is expected by the end of 2014. Wired services aren’t being forgotten — EE Fibre Broadband is also available from today with the potential to serve 11 million locations with speeds of up to 76 Mbps. Want to learn more about the new services? Then head to one of the 700 EE stores (rebranded Orange and T-Mobile locations) opening this morning. If your bank account can handle it, that is.
We’ve heard how Windows Phone 8 is all about you, and seen all the devices bearing the new OS at launch. What’s left, however, is where you can get one on the other side of the pond and, more importantly, how much it’s going to cost you. Nokia has separately announced that both the Lumia 920 and Lumia 820 will be launching in the UK (and France) later this week. More specifically, though, it looks like every UK carrier will be getting at least two handsets, with the almost-ready-to-launch EE getting both of HTC and Nokia’s handset pairs. We’ve got all the (current) pricing details and availability dates after the break.
EE has thrown in with Apple’s new iPad 4th-gen and iPad mini, confirming that it will be offering LTE versions of the two tablets “in the coming weeks.” Sold alongside the Orange and T-Mobile UK versions – which will be limited to HSPA+/DC-HSDPA – the 4G iPads will be tied to data plans from £25.99 per month for your mobile browsing.
EE’s announcement doesn’t come as too great a surprise, since the carrier was the only UK 4G network to be cited as compatible with the new iPad’s on Apple’s own tech pages. What we’re more interested in is pricing, given the carrier found itself in hot water this week after would-be early adopters proved turned-off by EE’s initial price plans.
We can make a few educated guesses as to data bundles from the mobile broadband pricing EE is offering, however. They’re pegged at £15.99 for 2GB per month, £20.99 for 3GB, and finally £25.99 for 5GB, when accessed via a USB modem or mobile hotspot.
Of course, that’s with an 18-month agreement, unlike what are normally rolling month-to-month plans provided for iPad users. Rates will likely be a little higher – or data allowances a little less – than the contract pricing, therefore.
Update: EE’s tablet data plans are here, though the news isn’t great if you – like us – you were hoping for rolling agreements. Instead, there are three 24-month contracts to choose from, priced at £25.99 for 2GB, £30.99 for 3GB, and £35.99 for 5GB; beyond that, £6 gets you another 500MB and £15 gets you another 2GB.
There’s more on the iPad mini in our hands-on from Apple’s event on Tuesday. In the UK, it will go on sale from £369 for the 16GB WiFi + 4G version, with preorders starting from Friday, October 26.
EE‘s new 4G plans for the UK have been revealed, but the carrier also has a new movie store, EE Film, for both its own subscribers and those of other carriers. Preloaded on EE handsets, such as the iPhone 5, Samsung Galaxy S III 4G LTE, and Galaxy Note II 4G LTE, but also available to other smartphone users to download, EE Film will offer what the network says is the best selection of new releases of any UK rental service, on a par with DVDs.
Over 700 will be offered at launch, priced from £0.79 for rentals, though some of the blockbuster titles – such as Wrath of the Titans and Prometheus – came in at £3.99. Rental purchases last for up to 30 days, though once you start watching you have 48hrs access before the movie expires; that compares well to iTunes’ 24hrs rental period.
Rented movies can be downloaded to a device, or streamed to up to three devices, including over 4G connections. Billing is either to an EE contract bill or via credit/debit card or PayPal; subscribers to other UK networks will have to use a card or PayPal. Users will be able to pause playback on one device and then resume it on another.
EE Film demo:
Until the end of February 2013, EE will be offering subscribers one free rental per week, and if they use 4G to download it that won’t be counted against their monthly allowance. They’ll also get 2-for-1 cinema tickets on Wednesdays, accessed either via text message or the EE Film Store app.
New UK 4G carrier EE has revealed its LTE plans, with a variety of phone and mobile broadband packages as well as some added bonuses each month for subscribers. For regular users, EE will offer monthly plans with unlimited calls and texts, and 500MB of data, for £36 per month; there’ll also be 1GB, 3GB, 5GB, and 8GB packages for £41-£56. Meanwhile, mobile broadband is priced from £15.99 per month for 2GB. Full pricing and details after the cut.
EE’s consumer plans are based on a 24-month contract; if you’d rather go for a 12-month contract, it will cost an extra £10 per month. All subscribers get access to BT WiFi hotspots in addition to their mobile data allowance; if you run out of mobile data, you can add on more directly from the phone, priced at 50MB for £3, 500MB for £6, 2GB for £15, and 4GB for £20. Users will get an alert on their phone when they’ve used up 80-percent of their monthly allowance, and both tethering and VoIP use are permitted.
12-month SIM-only plans – useful if you’ve bought an unlocked iPhone 5 from the Apple Store – will be available from November 9. They’re priced at £15 per month cheaper than the 24-month plans, too, kicking off at £21. If you want a 30-day rolling agreement, that’s also available SIM-free, though you only get £5 per month off the contract pricing.
As for mobile broadband, EE will offer both a USB dongle and a mobile hotspot (which supports up to five WiFi-tethered devices), with 18-month plans. For consumers, they kick off at £15.99 for 2GB per month, rising to £20.99 for 3GB, and £25.99 for 5GB:
If you’re already a T-Mobile UK or Orange subscriber, there are a few routes to transition over to EE. If you joined in the last six months, you can pay a one-off fee of £99 to upgrade a Galaxy S III, iPhone 4S, or HTC One X to a 4G handset and new, 24-month EE agreement. If you buy a 4G handset outright, meanwhile, you can switch over to a new, 24-month EE agreement at no extra cost. Finally, if you’re more than six months into a T-Mobile or Orange agreement, EE will discount the costs involved in jumping to a 4G contract with the new network.
New 24-month EE smartphone prices per consumer tariff:
Subscribers will get access to one free EE Film rental per week, in a promotion running up to the end of February 2013, which can be accessed on a smartphone, or via a PC/Mac; if your device has an HDMI output, you’ll be able to watch it on your TV, too. Downloading that film over 4G won’t count against your monthly data allowance – useful, given each 720p movie comes in at around 750MB, EE tells us – though that might change after the initial promotion ends at the end of Q1 2013. EE says it hopes to continue the scheme, in some form, but that it hasn’t decided exactly how it will work. 2-for-1 cinema tickets will also be offered to subscribers each Wednesday.
EE Film demo:
Those on £41 per month or above plans will also get to choose either a free streaming pass (with offline caching) to the Deezer music service, or a choice of two premium game downloads per month. Alternatively, they’ll be able to choose Mobile TV access, with 19 channels including Channel 4, Eurosport, and Cartoon Network. Subscribers will be able to change their “perk” of choice every 30 days.
Finally, there’s Clone Phone, EE’s insurance policy and backup system for 4G handsets. It works via an app on the device itself, backing up photos, videos, and contacts (along with music, depending on the platform) and, if your phone is lost or stolen, you can track it remotely via your browser, or send alert messages to it. If it’s gone completely, EE will replace it within 24 hours, and you can restore your content from the Clone Phone backup; there’s a £50 excess to pay, but there’s no limit on how many times you can take advantage of the replacement policy.
For an indication of the sort of speeds you might expect from EE, check out our benchmarking tests.
We’ve seen the speeds, we know the handsets and now we know how much it’ll cost you to be among the first to try 4G in the UK. EE has outlined its contract and handset pricing from October 30th, with all of the bundles including unlimited calls and texts. Yep, the new carrier is breaking it down by data, with its entry-level 500MB bundle starting at £36 for 24 months. You’ll have to make an initial payment for most handsets, although the Ascend P1 will be free from the 1GB bundle upwards. Data allowances go up to 8GB for £56 per month, although users can add even more, with an extra 50MB costing £3, or up to 4GB for £20.
Now, if you’re looking to get Apple’s latest on 4G, it’ll set you back at least £20 on the highest data plan. Already got your LTE-ready iPhone 5? Then you’ll have to wait until 9th November, when the network will start offering SIM-only 12-month plans priced from £21. The 4G network will also offer its phones on 12 month contracts for an additional £10 on top of the prices shown above. EE will let users who bought comparable non-4G versions in the last six months (like the One X or Galaxy S III) to exchange their devices for a one-off payment of £100. Alongside the all these pricing details, the Orange/ T-Mobile team-up also spilled the beans on some service features for its new customers — and we’ve got it all covered after the break, including a quick hands-on with its Film store service.
Isn’t it better when we work together? British carriers think so. EE, O2, Three and Vodafone have officially created a non-exclusive joint venture, Digital Mobile Spectrum Limited, that should speed up the deployment of 800MHz LTE by keeping Freeview over-the-air TV signals clear of interference while the partners bring their low-frequency 4G online. Previously, the networks were bound to form an equivalent company called MitCo that wouldn’t have been active until after the 800MHz auction, preventing companies from getting their wireless houses in order until they’d already made a commitment. There’s also a competitive angle involved to go with the cooperative work, as you might imagine: with EE’s 1,800MHz LTE poised to go live on October 30th, choosing infighting over assistance would only help widen the frontrunner’s lead. Whether DMSL represents altruism or pragmatism, we’ll appreciate knowing that the hurdles to a catch-up in UK 4G will be more those of the technical reality than the usual political maneuvering.
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
