EE reveal new 4G contract sharing plans, double speed and more
EE have revealed that they will be doubling the speeds of their 4G network, as well as offering shared 4G plans.
Launching the new speeds in 12 cities tomorrow, EE’s average 4G network speeds will double to between 24 to 30mbps, reaching maximum speeds of up to 150mbps. Available to new and existing customers at no extra cost, Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester and London are among the cities getting the speed boost.
The company will also be allowing customers to share their 4G contracts between family members and devices, taking the sting out of the premium pricing of the network’s plans. With data allowances of up to 20GB, a “lead sharer” holds the main contract, with extra users added to the plan for between £5 and £22 a month (costing more depending on whether they’re looking to add a phone with calls to the plan, and less for simply piggybacking the data for a tablet or laptop), to a maximum of five sharers, splitting the overall cost of the bill. Each sharer will choose a device that they wish to attach to the plan, and can choose from an add-on bonus that includes access to music streaming and gaming offerings. If data allowances are maxed out, all sharers gets a notifying email, allowing them to dial back their usage, avoiding dreaded “bill shock”, or purchase additional data booster packs.
Shared contracts start at £31 a month for 500MB of data and unlimited calls and texts, and rise to £51 for 5GB of data. All are 24 month contracts.
As well as consumers, EE will be offering the sharing plans to small businesses too on 24 month contracts.
All shared plans will launch on July 17th.
A summer promotion will see all new customers to the network who sign up to a 24 month 4G EE phone plan before 30th September 2013 not only get access to the new high speed network offering, but also far greater data allowances than previously offered, doubling, tripling and quadrupling the standard data allowance packages.
EE will also be introducing pay as you go 4G mobile broadband data plans, allowing customers to tap into the network’s high data speeds without having to add on unnecessary text and call minutes. PAYG plans are as follows:
PAYG 4G SIM (for use in tablets or laptops that have SIM card slots):
4G SIM – £15, complete with 2GB worth of pre-loaded data for 30 days.
PAYG 4G Dongle (plug in to compatible devices):
Alcatel L800 USB Dongle – £50, complete with 2GB worth of pre-loaded
data for 30 days. At launch you can get 6GB for the same price as 2GB.
PAYG Mobile Wi-Fi Device:
Alcatel Y800 Mobile – £70, complete with 2GB worth of pre-loaded
data for 30 days. At launch you can get 6GB for the same price as 2GB.
A new partnership with Mastercard called Cash On Tap is also being introduced by EE handsets, NFC-enabled handsets to make contactless payments of up to £20 in 230,000 UK stores. Rather than coming pre-installed on EE handsets, it’s an optional download from the Google Play Store.
For home users, EE will be introducing a new Bright Box 2 fibre router, capable of 76 Mb/s speeds, packing in AC Wi-Fi connectivity.
Olaf Swantee, EE CEO, said at today’s announcement event:
“When we launched 4G we talked about a vision of building the best network and best service so that our customers trust us with their digital lives. Through our launch and through the past eight months, we’ve already realised that aim.”
