EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE LAUNCHES SMART SIGNAL SHARING - THE FINAL PHASE OF THE 'BIG SWITCH-ON'
Everything Everywhere, the UK's biggest communications company, has completed the final stage of the 'big switch-on' – Orange and T-Mobile’s signal sharing project. Smart Signal Sharing will mean that if a customer's smartphone, tablet or dongle 3G signal starts to fade, it will automatically and seamlessly prioritise signal from the other network. This means customers will get access to fast, uninterrupted 3G in more places, more of the time.
Olaf Swantee, CEO of Everything Everywhere, said: "Smart Signal Sharing marks the completion of the Orange and T-Mobile signal integration project, which provides our 27.5million customers with the widest 2G and 3G coverage available in Britain today. The launch is yet another proofpoint to our commitment to provide our customers with the best network in the UK – now and in the future.
"Our continued investment into the network, including the launch of 50% faster 3G speeds through HSPA+, allows our customers to access the internet, social networks or download emails faster in more places than ever before."
The final stage of the switch on ensures that if a customer's 3G signal drops to a point at which performance may be impacted – around one bar of signal – their device will automatically switch to available 3G signal on either network.
If no 3G coverage is available, all Orange and T-Mobile devices will seamlessly switch to 2G signal and back on to 3G when either network comes back into range – even if a customer is downloading a page on the internet.
Smart Signal Sharing has been rolled out to all Orange and T-Mobile customers. Customer charges remain the same when using the other network’s signal.
In November 2011, Everything Everywhere announced an investment of £1.5bn into the network, shortly followed by the announcement of the roll out of HSPA+ 21, or 3.5G, which now reaches 95% of the UK population.
Subject to regulatory approval from Ofcom, Everything Everywhere is ready and able to begin the roll out of 4G on a small scale by the end of the year.
- Ends -
Notes to editors:
1. The Big Switch On
The first stage of Everything Everywhere's Big Switch On launched in October 2010, and allowed Orange and T-Mobile customers to share 2G signal to make calls and send texts in more places. 3G sharing was then introduced in October 2011. Since then, over nine million Orange and T-Mobile customers have benefited, resulting in 190 million calls and over 300 million GB of data being used.
2. How does it all work?
If a customer's signal drops to a point at which performance may be impacted – around one bar of signal – their device will automatically switch to the available signal on either network. If no 3G coverage is available, all Orange and T-Mobile devices will switch to 2G signal and back on to 3G when either network comes back into range, even if a customer is downloading a page on the internet.
Contacts:
Everything Everywhere Press office:
everything.everywhere@golinharris.com
Tel: 0870 373 1500
About EE
EE is the most advanced digital communications company in Britain, providing mobile and fixed line services to 27 million customers, and will soon become the first company in the UK to provide 4G mobile services alongside fixed-line fibre.
EE is the company that runs the Orange and T-Mobile brands in the UK, and will be launching its new superfast 4G brand – EE – in the coming weeks.
Its 4G service will cover a third of the population by the end of 2012 and its fibre service will cover 50% of the population by the end of the year.
EE's mobile service currently provides coverage to 99% of the population with 2G and 98% of the population with 3G.