UK network EE has announced they have reached the 10 million 4G customer mark. This makes them the biggest 4G network in Europe.

The company, which was created by merging both Orange and T-Mobile UK, was a landmark merger for the telecoms industry. It meant that 4G could be rolled out even faster by using their existing 1800Mhz spectrum.

Recently BT have agreed to purchase EE for £12.5bn, and this is currently going through regulatory approval.

(EE 4G customer experience visualisation by digital artist, Colin Hayward)

As more and more customers come on to the 4G network, data use is also increasing and for the first time, 4G data use has now overtaken 3G data.

EE are predicting that by 2018 their 4G network will be using 16 times the amount of data their 3G network did back in 2012. This is also three times what they are using as of today.

This translates to an exabyte, or 1,000,000,000GB in a year of data traffic!

Below is more information on the news and here is a link to their interesting ‘Mobile Living Index’.

Show Press Release (778 More Words)

EE NETWORK TO CARRY AN EXABYTE OF DATA A YEAR BY 2018

EE celebrates reaching 10million 4G customers making it Europe’s biggest 4G network
As 4G data overtakes 3G for the first time, EE’s Mobile Living Index (EEMLI) predicts network will carry more than one Exabyte of data per year by 2018
mHealth usage increasing 63% as faster connectivity encourages a new wave in virtual healthcare
EE brings 4G customer experiences to life through series of stunning visuals produced by digital artist, Colin Hayward

EE, the UK’s most advanced digital communications company, has announced it is the first European operator to surpass the 10million 4G customer landmark. To mark the occasion, EE has released its latest 4GEE Mobile Living Index, which has analysed EE’s 4G mobile data use and customer trends since early 2013.

With customer numbers and data usage growing at the current rate, EE predicts that a colossal amount of data, at least a one Exabyte of data (1,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes), will be carried across the network per year by 2018. This is triple the amount of data the network carries today, 16 times more than over the 3G network in 2012. This is the equivalent of streaming 38,000 years of HD films.

The increase in data is being fuelled by video and social media (now representing 51% of data on the network), as well as by new industries and sectors looking towards mobile connectivity to better serve businesses and consumers.

The EEMLI shows a 63% rise in the use of health-related apps on the network since August last year, as more reliable connectivity encourages people to use their phones in new ways:

More than one in four customers use some form of mHealth monitoring, from calorie counting to tracking blood pressure
Nearly 50% would happily conduct video consultations with GPs rather than visiting the surgery in person. EE already works with the NHS Doncaster Clinical Commissioning Group who securely transmit images of patients’ moles and skin lesions to a team of skin specialists for rapid diagnosis via 4G. This drastically reduces the pressure on secondary care (74% of patients who had images submitted have not needed further treatment / assessment)
Two in three customers say they would like the opportunity to manage their prescriptions via their mobile devices

4G Data Growth

For the first time on the EE network, total 4G traffic has now passed 3G traffic as coverage reaches new places. Rural areas are benefiting significantly. Since the introduction of 4G, data usage in rural parts of Scotland has increased 60%, usage in rural Wales is up 50%, and data in the South West of England is up 49%.

Olaf Swantee, EE’s Chief Executive Officer, said:

“EE pioneered 4G in the UK and we’re determined to keep the country at the forefront of innovation. We were the first to launch 4G+, and the first to introduce WiFi Calling in the UK. We are bringing our 4G network coverage to where it is needed most – enhancing the quality of life of people who live in the most rural and underserved parts of the country. Our network advances have truly unlocked the power of the mobile internet, so much so that customer usage is doubling and we predict our 4G network, built for capacity, will comfortably handle more than an Exabyte of data per year by 2018.

“People are using 4G to change how they live and work, and one of the most exciting areas to watch is healthcare, which looks set to be transformed by access to superfast 4G.”

Other key findings from the 4GEE Mobile Living Index include:

Seamless streaming: YouTube rules the roost as the most popular service, driving 67% of overall video streaming
Mobile mapping: Apple maps remains the most popular source of GPS, representing 73% of traffic. Google maps follows at 21%
Mobile gaming: PlayStation wins battle of the consoles, securing 37% of network gaming traffic. Meanwhile Steam and Xbox Live follow with a 28% and 19% share respectively.
Email: Microsoft email services (MSN and Outlook) are the clear favourites for 4GEE customers, garnering 45% of overall email traffic
Music: Almost half (44%) of all music streaming is via Soundcloud, well ahead of Spotify (29%) and Deezer (10%)

To celebrate the 10million customer milestone, EE has commissioned digital artist, Colin Hayward, to design a series of unique images representing a day of 4G data activity across the EE network, based on the EE Mobile Living Index.

From social media, video streaming and web browsing to gaming, instant messaging and mapping – the flower illustrates the millions of everyday mobile interactions enabled by 4G, while the roots capture the huge volumes of data used across the network.

10 limited edition prints will be given away over EE’s social media channels this month to mark the 10million milestone.