Two of the leading UK network operators, Everything Everywhere (EE) and Three have come together to share their networks in an attempt to increase 4G rollout for UK customers.
Both the companies, as part of the deal, will be sharing the costs of building and maintaining their 4G network, which is expected to result in a quicker 4G rollout for customers.
The companies will however be offering different network packages and there will be differences in the quality and coverage of each vendor’s 4G offering depending on their existing infrastructure.
While EE, the first UK operator to offer a 4G network, is expected to inject more than £1.4 billion in its 4G network, Three will be spending around £500 million over the next three years. Some of this amount will be spent on shared infrastructure.
EE plans to cover more than 90 percent of the UK homes by the end of this year. Three is behind EE in its 4G roll out, with plans to cover 50 UK locations by the end of the year and 98 percent of the country’s population by 2015.
EE has plans of charging extra fees for 4G over 3G from its users, Three however has already promised to give free 4G service to all its existing 3G customers.
[Source: The Financial Times]
