EE have been announced by RootMetrics as the ‘Best Network’ for 2018, making this an impressive five years in a row.
The company has been busy upgrading their network with new technology, allowing them to keep ahead of rivals with super impressive speeds plus capacity where needed.
With 5G being tested later this year, it will still be some time before customers get to experience this new technology, so 4G and 3G is still very important for today and the next year or so.
With a huge amount of spectrum in it’s portfolio and an already impressive network that is just getting better, it is easy to see why EE continue to win time after time network awards.
FIVE YEARS IN A ROW: EE NAMED UK’S BEST NETWORK IN ROOTMETRICS’ 2018 NATIONWIDE TESTING
- UK’s most comprehensive independent mobile network test find EE to be nation’s best network for calls, data and reliability
- EE’s continued commitment to launching the newest and best technology for customers secures fifth year of UK network leadership
- Latest award comes as EE boosts 4G capacity, expands 4G coverage to more new places, and customers make more phone calls on 4G than on 3G for the first time
14 August 2018 – EE, part of the BT Group, has been named by independent testing experts RootMetrics as the UK’s best mobile network. EE won the UK-wide award for giving customers the fastest speeds and the best reliability for both phone calls and data.
EE was named as the UK’s number one network for the fifth year in a row. RootMetrics travelled 20,928 miles, and undertook 593,008 tests (including calls, data and text messages), of all four of the UK networks across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, in the first six months of 2018. The company has been testing all UK mobile operators every six months since 2012.
In the last year alone, EE has doubled 4G capacity on more than 2,500 sites across the country, and has begun turning 3G airwaves into a boost of 4G speeds for customers in Cardiff, Hull, Bristol, Edinburgh, Glasgow and London as it introduces ‘5CA’ – five carrier aggregation – technology.
EE has also revolutionised mobile phone calls, with customers now making more calls on 4G than on 3G for the first time ever – meaning they still have access to superfast 4G while making calls, and can benefit from EVS (enhanced voice services) technology for clearer voice quality.
With 4G Calling and WiFi Calling – where calls are possible even with only WiFi coverage – available on every smartphone with a pay monthly contract, EE is giving customers the most reliable voice service ever, and in more places than ever before.
EE has also introduced completely new ways for customers to make phone calls, with the launch of smart number technology and Apple Watch 4G connectivity. EE has rolled out smart number technology to allow customers to extend their phone number to five other connected devices – like tablets and laptops – which are internet connected with either Wi-Fi or mobile connectivity. Smart number technology is initially available for iOS users, and will be rolling out to Android at a later date.
EE is also the only UK network to enable 4G connectivity for the Apple Watch Series 3, allowing customers to stay connected with the same number to make calls and receive texts, even without their iPhone nearby.
Marc Allera, CEO of BT’s Consumer business, said: “We have relentlessly invested in improving our customers’ experience of our network. We’re connecting customers in more places than ever before, more reliably than ever before, and with the fastest data speeds in the UK. We’ve been driving forward the UK’s mobile infrastructure for five years, and we’ll keep going – with 5G launching next year to raise the bar yet again.”
Technical summary
- Doubling capacity:
- To double capacity on more than 2,500 sites in the last year alone, EE has deployed 20MHz of its high frequency, 2600MHz spectrum on to sites already equipped with 20MHz of 1800MHz spectrum
- EE has also deployed a further 15MHz of 2600MHz spectrum on the busiest sites
- Refarming 3G spectrum:
- To stay ahead of congestion and user demand for 4G in the most popular areas, EE is refarming 2100MHz spectrum that previously carried 3G traffic
- EE’s 5CA technology brings together up to 70MHz of 4G spectrum to its busiest sites, with plans in place to refarm 1800MHz spectrum from 2G to 4G
- VoLTE now on top:
- This summer, for the first time on the EE network, customers made more calls on VoLTE – 4G Calling – than on 3G
- 45% of non-Wi-Fi calls were on 4G – rising from 0% in 2016 – with 42% on 3G and the remaining 13% on 2G
- 4G in more places:
- In the last 12 months, EE has built and activated more than 350 brand new mobile towers across some of the most rural parts of the UK
- New mobile sites built in 2018 have connected people in places like Carsphairn in Dumfries and Galloway, Loch Tarff and Gorthleck in The Highlands, Terrington and Oswaldkirk in North Yorkshire, Brecon Beacons National Park in Powys and the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park
