EE Switches on 4G in Nine More Towns and Cities Across the UK

4G arrives in Barnsley, Chorley, Coventry, Newport, Preston, Rotherham, Telford, Walsall and Watford, delivering superfast mobile to more consumers and businesses

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Feb 28, 2013, 06:18 ET

HERTFORDSHIRE, England, Feb. 28, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- EE, the UK's most advanced digital communications company, today announced that 4G is available in nine new towns and cities across the UK, bringing the total number of towns and cities covered by superfast 4GEE mobile technology to 37, just four months after the launch of the service.

Today, 4G is being switched on in Barnsley, Chorley, Coventry, Newport, Preston, Rotherham, Telford, Walsall and Watford as roll out continues to progress ahead of schedule. 4G from EE, the first and only 4G network in the UK, covers the homes and businesses of more than 45% of the UK population. By summer 2013 the network will be in at least 72 towns and cities as well as much of the suburban and rural areas that surround them, reaching well over half of people in the UK.

Superfast 4G mobile is approximately five times faster than 3G. 4GEE mobile customers can instantly access the web on the go, download large email attachments quicker than ever, watch live TV on mobiles without buffering, make high quality video calls on the move and play live multiplayer games on the go. EE customers have access to a wide range of mobile handsets, tablets and mobile Wi-Fi devices, including iPhone 5, Samsung Galaxy SIII LTE, iPad mini, Huawei Mobile Wi-Fi, Blackberry Z10, and the newly launched HTC One, available from EE stores today.

Olaf Swantee, Chief Executive Officer, EE, said: "We're committed to making the UK's first 4G service available to as many people, as quickly as possible. We're setting the pace for the delivery of 4G in the UK, and it's a great achievement for our engineering teams to be able to launch in another nine towns this month, enabling more and more consumers and businesses to take advantage of superfast mobile internet."

According to independent network testing from RootMetrics, 4GEE customers in cities recently measured* are experiencing speeds in line with or greater than the forecast average of 8-12Mbps.

While the rapid rollout continues, EE engineers continue to increase network density**, ensuring the continued advancement of the service in the previously launched towns and cities. The speed and availability of 4G from EE is continually increasing, so that users have consistent, superfast access to 4G wherever they travel, and during their commutes to work. This continued investment is enabling businesses and consumers to have the full, superfast 4G experience of web, social media, email and multi-media, wherever they are.

Further to the 37 towns and cities 4GEE is already live in now, EE has committed to switching on the following 35 by June, bringing the total to 72 towns and cities: Aldershot, Ashford, Basildon, Basingstoke, Blackpool, Bradford, Bracknell, Camberley, Colchester, Crawley, Doncaster, Dudley, Farnborough, Guildford, Horsham, Huddersfield, Leatherhead, Leicester, Luton, Maidstone, Milton Keynes, Oldham, Oxford, Reading, Redhill, Reigate, Sevenoaks, St Albans, Stevenage, Tonbridge, Royal Tunbridge Wells, Warrington, West Bromwich, Wigan and Woking.