London,
18
August
2014
|
23:00
Europe/London

EE retains top spot as UK’s number one mobile network

  • Rigorous independent testing from RootMetrics® ranks EE number one for overall network performance for the second time
  • EE unbeaten on speed, mobile internet, call, and text performance
  • The RootMetrics 2014 first half report is based on more than 920,000 test

19th August, 2014 – EE has today been named as the number one overall mobile network in the UK for the second time, following comprehensive independent testing from RootMetrics. RootMetrics assessed all four major operators, collecting over 920,000 test samples and driving more than 25,000 miles – the equivalent of driving from Land’s End to John O’Groats 28 times. A variety of locations were tested including more than 1,200 indoor locations across the UK and various scenarios, to replicate the real-life usage of mobile technology, across rural and urban areas.

This study is the most thorough independent, customer-centric mobile network testing ever undertaken in the UK, with RootMetrics’ results recently used to underpin an official call quality report from Ofcom. In the latest UK RootScore® Report, EE was ranked number one in all six categories, tying number one for reliability:

  • Number one for overall network performance
  • Joint number one for network reliability
  • Number one for network speed
  • Number one for mobile internet performance
  • Number one for call performance
  • Number one for text performance

EE also took the top spot overall in England and Wales, and was joint top in Northern Ireland and Scotland.

The awards follow EE’s announcement that it is investing more than £275 million this year in making phone calls better for consumers, through a comprehensive upgrade of 2G equipment, increased capacity on 3G sites to support 50% more calls and trials of services including 4G voice (VoLTE) and WiFi calling. EE has also recently emphasised its focus on improving coverage in rural areas by bringing EE 4G to 3.5 million additional people across more than 2,500 villages and small towns.

Olaf Swantee, CEO at EE, said: “Today’s results, along with last week’s report from Ofcom, show that EE is providing the best mobile experience to businesses and consumers across the UK. We continue to invest to ensure that customers here have access to a world-leading network, setting new standards for performance and reliability. We welcome the most rigorous independent testing of mobile networks, and it’s great to see ongoing investment is improving quality and coverage for people, no matter where they are in the country.”

4G from EE currently covers more than 73% of the UK population, including 250 towns and cities and more than 2500 villages and small towns.

ENDS

Notes to Editors

4G from EE is now available in 250 UK towns and cities across the UK – Aberdeen, Accrington, Aldershot, Altrincham, Amersham, Antrim, Armadale, Armagh City Ashby-De-La-Zouch, Ashford (Kent), Ashford (Surrey), Ashton-Under-Lyne, Aylesbury, Ballymena, Banbridge, Bangor, Barnsley, Basildon, Basingstoke, Bath, Beaconsfield, Bedford, Belfast, Bellshill, Belper, Benfleet, Berkhamsted, Bicester, Billericay, Bingley, Birkenhead, Birmingham, Bishop Auckland,  Bishop’s Stortford, Blackburn, Blackpool, Bolton, Bournemouth, Bracknell, Bradford , Braintree, Brentwood, Bridgend, Brighouse, Brighton, Bristol, Burnley, Burton Upon Trent, Caerphilly, Camberley, Cambridge, Cannock, Cardiff, Castleford, Coalville, Caldicot, Canvey Island, Carlisle, Carrickfergus, Chatham, Chelmsford, Cheltenham, Chepstow, Chester, Chester-Le-Street, Cheshunt, Chorley, Clydebank, Coatbridge, Colchester, Coleraine, Coventry, Craigavon, Crawley, Cumbernauld, Cwmbran, Darlington, Derby, Dewsbury, Doncaster, Dudley, Dumbarton, Dundee, Dungannon, Durham, Edinburgh, East Grinstead, Ellesmere Port, Exeter, Farnborough, Farnham, Fleet, Frimley, Gateshead, Gerrards Cross, Gillingham, Glasgow, Gloucester, Grangemouth, Gravesend, Grays, Grimsby, Guildford, Guiseley, Halifax, Hamilton, Harlow, Harpenden, Harrogate, Hartlepool, Hatfield, Hemel Hempstead, High Wycombe, Hinckley, Hitchin, Houghton-Le-Spring, Horsham, Huddersfield, Hull, Ilkeston,  Ipswich, Jarrow, Keighley, Kenilworth, Keynsham, Kirkby, Kirkintilloch, Larne, Leatherhead, Leeds, Leicester, Leigh, Leighton Buzzard, Letchworth, Leyland, Lichfield, Lincoln, Lisburn,  Liverpool, Livingston, London, Londonderry/Derry, Loughborough, Luton, Lytham St Annes, Macclesfield, Maidenhead, Maidstone, Manchester, Mansfield, Marlow, Merthyr Tydfil, Milton Keynes, Middlesbrough, Motherwell, Nailsea, Neath, Newbury, Newcastle, Newcastle Under Lyme, Newport, Newry, Newton Abbot, Newtownabbey, Newtownards,  Northampton, Norwich, Nottingham, Nuneaton, Oldham, Omagh, Ormskirk, Oxford, Paignton, Peterborough, Peterlee, Plymouth, Pontypool, Poole, Pontefract, Portishead, Portsmouth, Port Talbot, Potters Bar, Preston, Ramsbottom, Rayleigh, Reading, Redcar, Redhill, Reigate, Rhyl, Richmond, Rochdale, Rochester, Rotherham, Runcorn, Sale, Saltash, Sevenoaks, Sheffield, Shipley, Sittingbourne, Skelmersdale, Slough, Southampton, Southend-On-Sea, Southport, South Shields, Stevenage, St Albans, Stafford, Staines, Stockport, Stockton-On-Tees, Stoke, Strabane, Sunderland, Sutton Coldfield, Sutton in Ashfield, Swadlincote, Swansea, Swindon, Swinton,Tamworth, Telford, Thame, Tonbridge, Torquay, Totton, Tyldesley,Tunbridge Wells, Wakefield, Wallasey, Walsall, Walton-On-Thames, Warrington, Washington, Watford, Welwyn Garden City, Weston-Super-Mare, West Bromwich, Widnes, Wigan, Wimborne Minster, Windsor, Woking, Wolverhampton, Worksop, Wishaw, and York.

EE double speed 4G is available in 20 cities - Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Derby, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham, Sheffield, Southampton, Sunderland, Sutton Coldfield, Walsall, West Bromwich and Wolverhampton.

4G from EE is also available in Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Luton, City, Birmingham, Manchester, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Newcastle, Liverpool John Lennon, Bristol, Nottingham East Midlands, Leeds-Bradford, Belfast International, George Best Belfast City, Robin Hood and Blackpool airports.

Award rankings based on RootMetrics UK RootScore Reports for mobile performance as tested on best available plans and devices on 4 mobile networks across all available network types (January – June 2014). The RootMetrics award is not an endorsement of EE. Your results may vary. See rootmetrics.co.uk for details

About EE

EE is the largest and most advanced digital communications company in Britain, delivering mobile and fixed communications services to consumers, businesses, government and the wholesale market. EE has approximately 15,000 employees and 550 retail stores, and serves more than 30 million customers across its mobile, fixed and wholesale businesses.

EE runs the UK's biggest, fastest and most reliable mobile network, pioneering the UK's first superfast 4G mobile service in October 2012. EE's 4G coverage today reaches more than 70% of the UK population.  EE’s 2G coverage reaches 99% of the population while 3G reaches 98%. EE's superfast fibre broadband service covers 54% of the UK population, and ADSL broadband service covers 98.7% of the population.

In the last few years, EE has received extensive independent recognition including being ranked the UK's best overall network by RootMetrics®, Best network at the 2014 Mobile News Awards, Fastest Network at the 2013 uSwitch Awards, Best Network at the 2013 Mobile Choice Consumer Awards and What Mobile Awards, Network Innovation at the 2013 Recombu awards and Best Network for Business at the 2013 Mobile Industry awards.

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For more information, please contact the EE press team on:

ee@nelsonbostock.com

0845 373 7070