EE will sell as many tablets, dongles and smart devices as it does phones by 2017
The UK's biggest mobile phone network says it expects to sell as many Web-connected devices as it does smartphones in the next two years. Announcing a Â£1.5 billion investment in its network over the next three years, EE also says double-speed 4G and 4G voice calls will reach most of the population by 2017.EE was the first network to launch 4G LTE in the UK back in 2012. Although the other major networks have now launched their own rival 4G services, EE has had the longest headstart and so offers the widest coverage. The company, which is being bought by BT in a Â£12.5 billion deal, today laid out its plans for the next couple of years. The short version is that EE wants to bring faster speeds to more people. The demand is partly driven by the explosion in Web-connected devices: everything from tablets and laptops to dongles and smart home devices-- basically, anything that talks to the Web that isn't a phone. That includes EE's own EE TV set-top box and Buzzard dongle for your car. In London, EE has established even faster double-speed 4G, and plans to offer that 60Mbps maximum speed across the country. That will be followed by 4G+ (aka LTE Advanced) in 20 towns and cities, giving lucky punters a headspinning 150Mbps if they have phones and tablets that can handle it.Good news for city dwellers, but many rural areas are still without decent mobile coverage -- and some remote areas don't have any fixed-line broadband either. The government and various networks and tech companies see 4G as the solution to that problem, including EE. The company plans to build new infrastructure and use its lower-frequency 4G spectrum to expand the network's reach by more than 1,500 square miles. According to EE, that's an area bigger than the Lake District and Peak District national parks combined, geography fans. Part of the plan involves smaller and easier-to-build network sites than traditional mobile phone masts. That means sticking 4G kit on the side of rural shops and homes."The deployment of 800MHz spectrum will be crucial to providing coverage to rural areas because mobile signals travel further at lower frequencies," explained Kester Mann, industry analyst at CCS Insight. "The commitment to focus on rural areas will help satisfy the government's requirement for 90 per cent geographical coverage in the UK by 2017." Currently 4G only handles data, as voice calls are still carried by the 3G network, with obvious implications for call quality and coverage. EE intends to introduce 4G voice calls -- also known as VoLTE -- as part of the network expansion. "Voice is clearly central to EE's strategy given its stated plans for VoWi-Fi, VoLTE and broader coverage. This addresses a major concern among UK mobile consumers to reliably make and receive phone calls," Mann said. "EE's announcement reiterates its strategy to lead on network quality and performance. Despite the intended acquisition by BT, it is clear that it is business as usual for EE."