EE launches limited edition 4G price plans - budget £31 contract and 20GB 'super-user' plans

When EE (Everything Everywhere) first launched its 4G LTE service in the UK, two common complaints focused on the price of its subsidized smartphone contracts and the 8GB ceiling for data allowances. Today it seems the carrier's ready to test the water with some more adventurous price plans, as for a limited time it'll offer a budget-centric £31 per month, 24-month deal, along with a new "super-user" contracts with 20GB of data per month. 

The £31 per month plan costs £5 per month less than EE's cheapest standard contract, and will be available to customers from Jan. 31 to Mar. 31. Like all of EE's smartphone-inclusive plans, it runs for 24 months and includes unlimited calls and texts. Phones offered on the £31 plan will include the HTC One SV (check out our review) and the Windows Phone-powered Nokia Lumia 820, so there's a clearly a focus on entry-level hardware here.

But it's the second limited edition contract that'll probably be of interest to Android Central readers. For £46 per month on a 12-month, SIM-only contract, EE's offering a whopping 20GB of data per month. Alternatively, customers can get the new 20GB deal with a subsidized smartphone on a 24-month, £61 per month contract. The 20GB plans will be available in stores from today until Feb. 28, EE says.

In addition, EE says it's introducing a new 8GB, 12-month SIM-only plan costing £41 per month.

Due to its current monopoly over 4G LTE in the UK, EE's prices remain higher than rival networks. But the company will be hoping that this diversification of its range of price plans will help it scoop up some additional customers before rival networks launch their LTE services later this year.

Any UK readers tempted by EE's new tariffs? Let us know in the comments.

[Source: AndroidCentral]

EE's 4G network to be available in 35 locations by the end of March 2013

Potential 4G adopters in the UK not only need to consider the price of EE's plans, but also the thin coverage currently available. This is slowly being fattened up, however, and today the company has announced that by March 2013, it plans to extend its high-speed network to an additional 17 areas (to make a grand total of 35). Those 17 towns and cities don't include last week's stealthy activations inDerby, Newcastle and Nottingham, or the planned switch-flipping in Belfast, Hull, Maidenhead and Slough before the end of the year. As well as gracing new locations with 4G and bolstering network density, EE is also upgrading its 3G network to support dual-channel HSPA+ (DC-HSPA+ for short). This is expected to be available across 40 percent of EE's network by year's end, and will also be enjoyed by customers signed up with Orange or T-Mobile. So, enough of the suspense -- head past the break for the full list of locales getting 4G early next year.

Areas receiving 4G in Q1 2013:

• Bradford
• Chelmsford
• Coventry
• Doncaster
• Dudley
• Leicester
• Luton
• Newport
• Reading
• Rotherham
• St. Albans
• Sunderland
• Sutton Coldfield
• Walsall
• Watford
• West Bromwich
• Wolverhampton

[Source: Engadget]

Nexus 4 works with LTE after simple tweak

Some enterprising tinkerers on the XDA Developers forums are demonstrating that despite the lack of a working signal amplifier and filter in LG’s Nexus 4, it’s still possible to force the phone onto an LTE network from the phone’s debugging menu — at least on LTE band 4 (1700MHz and 2100MHz) on Canadian carriers Telus and Rogers.

Last week, Anandtech reported that "Band 4 (AWS) could essentially be supported with the power amplifiers and transceiver that already are onboard the Nexus 4, but again it ultimately comes down to a particular OEM choice whether these get supported." As we've written previously, getting LTE support across multiple carriers across the US and internationally is a minefield, which is why Google chose not to include support for multiple LTE bands on the Nexus 4.

[Source: The Verge]

EE unveils 4G sim-only plans: 5GB max of LTE zip for £36 per month

If you already had a handset and wanted in on EE's extra 4G vroom, you may have been miffed when it launched without a sim-only option. The operator has now atoned, however, with new packages for the already-smartphoned: a threadbare 500MB contract will run you £21 per month over a year, while those who need data galore will have to pony up £36 for the max 5GB data plan. The latter option will save you £15 over a handset-included contract with 12 months less commitment, and adding an extra £5 along with another year will get you unlimited texting and calls while roaming. The plans are available online or over the phone, but will be coming to stores "very shortly" as well, according to EE. So, if you're looking to give that LTE equipped phone a speedy new life, hit the source for all the details.

[Source: Engadget]

Vodafone UK making their '4G promise,' offering deals for early upgrades to 4G contracts

Despite not having a licence at present, or any firm plans for a 4G LTE network, UK carrier Vodafone has come out fighting with their "4G Promise." Rival carrier, EE, is set to launch the UK's first 4G LTE network within days. Eager not to lose out too much to the new service, Vodafone is offering some pretty impressive deals for customers who upgrade to their 4G network when it eventually arrives. 

The meat of the offer is pretty straight forward: 

So if you’ve bought an iPhone 5 or Samsung Galaxy SIII (purchased after October 26th 2012) or Galaxy Note II, simply bring it back to one of our stores. Even if you’re still in contract, we’ll knock off 70% of your remaining contract charges, letting you upgrade your phone early and start a fresh contract.

70% is a huge amount to reduce an outstanding contract fee by, and shows that Vodafone is keen to not only retain their current customers who may think about switching, but attract those who are unable to get EE 4G LTE at the services launch. The deal only applies when taking out a new 4G contract in the future, and for devices bought between September 12 2012 and March 31 2013.

[Source: Android Central]

Sprint rolls out new 4G tablet data plans November 11th, likely just in time for new(er) iPad, iPad mini

As a carrier trailing Verizon and AT&T in terms of subscribers and now 4G coverage, Sprint has made it a habit to undercut the other two on value. While its upcoming tablet-specific data plans won't necessarily be cheaper, they do promise up to 20 percent more data for the same price and still do not require a contract. Sure to come in handy now that it's offering the fourth generation iPad and iPad mini on its network, they are 300MB/$14.99, 3GB/$34.99, 6GB/$49.99, or 12GB for $79.99. There are also $10 and $15 offers for customers that also have Sprint smartphones that offer 100MB and 1GB of data, respectively, and activation fees for all 3G/4G tablets are being waived for a limited time. As you'll recall, Verizon and AT&T's offerings include 2GB/$30 (3GB/$30 on AT&T), 5GB/$50 and on Verizon, 10GB/$80 packages. Even if you're not an Apple user these plans apply for all 4G capable slates, with Samsung's Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 specifically mentioned. For those planning to pick up one of the latest iPads with wifi + cellular capability however, their mid-November launch date may have narrowed slightly , since these plans go into effect November 11th. Check the press release after the break or a post on its Sprint Community blog for more info.

[Source: Engadget]

UK government and industry heavyweights set up 5G Innovation Centre, want to go one better

The UK is almost ready to flip the switch on its first LTE network, but it's determined to be at the forefront of the next-generation, setting up a "5G Innovation Centre" at the University of Surrey. The government announced it's putting up £11.6 million (around $18.6 million) in funding, but another £24 million (around $38.5 million) will be coming from an industry group comprising the likes of Huawei,Samsung, Telefonica, Rohde & Schwarz, Fujitsu and others. The money will allow research to go beyond concept and theory, with the aim that all partners work together to develop and standardize 5G technology, which the university has been looking into for a number of years already. They will focus on energy and spectrum efficiency as well as speed, and although it's early days, 10Gbps has been banded around as a per-tower target, translating to roughly 200Mbps for each connection. Unfortunately, we've also got a number to kill your geek buzz -- it's upwards of a decade away. Still, at least you've got a long time to think about which case you'll be picking up for your 5G-ready Galaxy S XV.

[Source: Engadget]

4G LTE to launch in UK on October 30

iPhone 5 owners in the UK have something to cheer about -- 4G LTE service will be available for the first time in the country starting on October 30th.

The ultra-fast LTE service will operate on the network of EE (formerly known as Everything Everywhere), a new joint venture of Orange UK and T-Mobile. Although Orange and T-Mobile customers will soon see their carrier change to EE, they'll need to have an EE data plan in order to take advantage of the faster speeds provided by 4G LTE.

At this point, the service is expected to roll out in 10 cities on October 30th. By the end of 2012, 16 cities -- which contain a third of the population of the UK -- will have 4G LTE, and EE expects 98 percent of the population to be covered by 2014.

[Source: TUAW]