EE revealed it added 1.7 million new 4G connections in the three months ending March 31, claiming that it’s “firmly on track” to reach its target of 14 million 4G customers by 2015 end.
Extending its lead as Europe’s biggest 4G provider, EE has added more than 9.3 million 4G customers since the network went live in October 2012. The company’s operating revenues fall 1.1 per cent to £1.469 billion in the three months to the end of March.
The operator revealed that of all the customers signing up to EE pay-monthly deals in the first quarter of the year, 96 per cent chose 4G and half of those new customers selected 4GEE Extra, which offered them double-speed mobile broadband.
EE noted that, as of March 2015, more than 7,700 medium and large-sized companies were using 4G mobile services.
“During the first quarter, EE continued to execute well on our strategy to maintain commercial leadership, deliver operational excellence and create long-term value through network leadership and innovation,” the UK mobile operator stated.
“We are successfully attracting customers to our super-fast 4G network with a net increase of 1.7 million 4G connections in the quarter, more than any other operator in Europe.”
EE’s 4G network currently covers 87 percent of the UK’s population and its double-speed 4G has spread to 67 percent of the country. It is expected that a network investment programme worth £1.5bn will further extend EE’s 4G coverage to 99 percent of the population and voice coverage to 90 percent of the UK’s landmass by 2017.
EE’s chief financial officer Neal Milsom said “We are delivering strong, consistent commercial performance by giving our customers the best mobile voice and data network experience in the UK.
“As much of the UK market now has smartphones, we are leading the charge into new growth areas by cross-selling our innovative range of connected products including 4G tablets, 4G wi-fi, fixed broadband and EETV to our existing customers.”
