iPhone 5S prices revealed by EE

The cheapest 4G deal for the 5S costs £26 per month for a paltry 500MB of data. On that plan, the 5S costs £260 up front for the 16GB model, £350 for the 32GB version, and £420 for the 64GB model.

The cheapest up-front cost of the 5S is £20, on a £51 monthly deal that nets you 20GB of data.

The cheapest up front cost for the 32GB model is £130, while the best price for the 64GB version is £230. 

The 16GB 5S is also available on 3G deals from Orange and T-Mobile, starting at £100...

Read the full story here... Source: CNET

Samsung Galaxy S4 on 4GEE from EE

The Samsung Galaxy S4 on superfast 4GEE http://ee.co.uk/s4, featuring the world's first Full HD Super AMOLED display, Smart Pause, Group Play, Story Album, S Health, and Air Gesture. 


We're EE and we've brought you the UK's first superfast 4G mobile network, together with Fibre Broadband. Whether you're streaming HD TV, live multiplayer gaming, or watching a film, it'll be superfast, at home or on the go. Check out full details here.

EE to double 4G spectrum allocation, boost speeds in first ten cities by summer

While EE scrambles to spread its LTE network far and wide before the other UK carriers get into the 4G business, it also wants to flex some spectrum muscle. The network's announced it's planning to double the LTE allocation on its 1800MHz band (from 2 x 10MHz to 2 x 20MHz), which it claims will increase download speeds to an average of 20 Mbps, topping out at 80 Mbps. Ten of the 11 original 4G launch cities will be seeing this bandwidth boost first: London, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester and Sheffield.EE doesn't want you to think it's done expanding, though, and says it'll continue to make use of its MHz and GHz by rolling out boring, normal LTE in new areas whilst doubling up in others. The first ten cities are due to receive "double-speed" 4G by summer, which we assume means around the time summer is supposed to happen.

Update: EE's Howard Jones has added on Twitter that the network will start trialing carrier aggregation, LTE-A (that's even better 4G) later in 2013. We've asked for more details and will fill you in when we hear more.

[Image credit: Lazygamer, Flickr]

[Source: Engadget]

4G free in taxis courtesy of EE from today

EE is today offering passengers in London and Birmingham cabs the chance to experience the UK's only 4G network. It's free in taxis for the next three months -- by which time you might be able to sign up to a much cheaper 4G network.

A superfast Wi-Fi network is perhaps the last thing you'd expect to find in a London cab, yet EE has fitted 40 cabs in London and 10 in Birmingham with MiFi routers you can connect to free of charge. The service will offer anyone with a Wi-Fi enabled device to experience the speed of 4G, without the staggering expense.

EE has the first 4G -- or LTE, as it's sometimes called -- network in the UK because it was allowed to use a specific part of the radio spectrum ahead of all the other companies bidding in the recent 4G auction. It's used this headstart not to build goodwill and a huge customer base, but to charge an extortionate amount of money for data.

Other networks will open their 4G networks later this year, and price is certain to be the main difference between them. Three has already promised 4G won't cost any extra.

EE's Spencer McHugh, announcing the three-month project, said: "The first motorised black cabs hit the streets in 1901, nearly 70 years before the first smart phone was available to consumers, now we are bringing this icon of British transport into the 21st century with a 4G makeover."

Despite McHugh suggesting the trial will "demonstrate the benefits of a superior online experience", it remains to be seen whether such a service will become a permanent fixture in London cabs after the trial ends.

From the start of the London 2012 Olympics until the end of January this year, Virgin Media offered a similar service, giving free Wi-Fi access to over 100 tube stations. As expected, the service is now only available to registered customers of Virgin, EE and Vodafone for free, with customers of other providers having to pay a fee.

Will you be looking out for a 4G cab in London or Birmingham? Are you already an EE 4G user? Let us know in the comments here, or indeed over at our Facebook page.

[Source: CNET]

EE rolls out 4G LTE in nine more UK towns and cities

Sole UK 4G LTE carrier EE (Everything Everywhere) has announced that it's switched on 4G coverage in a further nine towns and cities across the country. From today, EE customers in Barnsley, Chorley, Coventry, Newport, Preston, Rotherham, Telford, Walsall and Watford will be able to pick up LTE reception on supporting devices. Four months after it first rolled out 4G, EE's total market count stands at 37.

The network plans to have 4G coverage in 65 towns and cities by the end of June, by which time it may face competition from the other mobile operators. Following the recent wrap-up of the 4G spectrum auction, Three, O2 and Vodafone will be looking to roll out their own LTE services in late spring and early summer.

[Source: AndroidCentral]

EE Set to Cover 27 More U.K. Towns by June With LTE

Everything Everywhere (EE) is going to be expanding its LTE coverage of the U.K. in the coming months, and will end up covering 55 percent of the population by the time its done.

Between April and June EE plans to light up the LTE towers in 27 additional towns which include Aldershot, Ashford, Basildon, Basingstoke, Blackpool, Bracknell, Camberley, Colchester, Crawley, Farnborough, Guildford, Horsham, Huddersfield, Leatherhead, Maidstone, Milton Keynes, Oldham, Oxford, Redhill, Reigate, Sevenoaks, Stevenage, Tonbridge, Royal Tunbridge Wells, Warrington, Wigan and Woking. These join the existing cities and towns and will bring the total to 65 locations around the U.K. It will also bring the total percentage of the population covered by the service up to 55.

While Three announced this week that it would be offering unlimited LTE data on the cheaplater in the year, EE has a pretty large head start in the market. Additionally O2 and Vodafoneare fighting for their share of the available bandwidth with no announcement yet as to when those networks may become active.

The take away from all of this is that LTE will soon be in every corner of the U.K., and consumers should have options as to which carrier they use, but it isn’t going to happen overnight.

[Source: TechnoBuffalo]

Three won't charge extra for 4G, unlike EE

Three won't charge extra for 4G when it launches later this year. Unlike the pricey EE, the company promises there won't be separate 3G and 4G price plans -- which means you could get 4G for as little as £7 per month, if it doesn't change its current deals.

Three's 4G service will launch in the second half of this year, using the 1,800MHz airwaves it's buying from EE. You'll need a phone with LTE gubbins built-in to benefit from the faster mobile Internet connection, but once you've got the right phone there's no extra cost.

When 4G launches in or after the summer, existing customers won't need to change price plans or SIM cards. If you own an iPhone 5, Nokia Lumia 920 or Sony Xperia Z you won't even have to change phones. The latest Apple iPad mini and iPad with retina display tablets are also ready for 4G.

Soon the choice will be even wider with the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S3 LTE andBlackBerry Z10 arriving on Three imminently.

Three vs EE

The first 4G phone network here in the UK is EE, the network formed by the merger of Orange and T-Mobile. EE has come under fire for its prices, or more specifically, the stingey data limitsincluded with each price plan: £36 for 500MB of data, anyone?

By contrast, Three's SIM-only deals start at a mere £6.90 per month for 500MB of data -- you do have to buy the phone yourself, but as a monthly fee that's a quarter of the cost of EE's cheapest 4G deal.

Opt for Three's One Plan and you can bag yourself unlimited all-you-can-eat data from £12.90 per month. That's a 12-month contract too, so you're not tied into a two-year deal like many of EE's plans.

What is Ultrafast? 

Three is adding 4G LTE to its Ultrafast network, which currently uses the DC-HSDPA standard. DC-HSDPA is a faster version of 3G -- think of it as 3.5G -- and allows compatible phones to connect to the Web faster than 3G, even when you can't get 4G.

DC-HSDPA currently reaches half the UK population in 50 towns and cities. It's planned to reach 80 per cent of the population by the end of March. Three hasn't yet revealed how wide its 4G coverage will be.

The other phone networks don't have access to the 1,800MHz spectrum and have to buy different airwaves in an auction currently being held by Ofcom. The telecoms watchdog expects the first rival 4G services to launch in May.

[Source: CNET]

4G EE comes to 9 new towns from Southend to Sunderland

Nine more towns just had their mobile data speeds given a kick in the pants as EE, Britain's first 4G network, expands its 4G LTE coverage.

The lucky nine are Amersham, Bolton, Chelmsford, Hemel Hempstead, Southend-on-Sea, Stockport, Sunderland, Sutton Coldfield and Wolverhampton.

That makes a total of 27 towns and cities covered by EE, the phone network formed from the merger between Orange and T-Mobile. EE promises more towns will also be connected by the end of March, including Bradford, Coventry, Rotherham, and Watford, and West Bromwich.

Mobile coverage is never entirely certain so whack your postcode into EE's coverage checker before you shell out for a 4G contract.

EE has drawn flak for its pricing, or more specifically the amount of data you get for each pricy contract. The network responded this month by adding a new cheapest tariff and a 20GB data deal.

The latest addition to EE's LTE line-up is the new BlackBerry Z10, announced yesterday and on sale today. Other phones and tablets that connect to the Web pretty darn quick include the iPhone 5, Samsung Galaxy S3 LTE and Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1.

[Source: CNET]

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]

Phones4U to launch own virtual mobile network using EE's infrastructure

'LIFE Mobile' to launch 3G service this March, 4G later

British phone retailer Phones4U has announced it's to get into the network operator game through a new virtual network operated on EE's infrastructure. The new "LIFE Mobile" network is scheduled to launch this March, with 2G and 3G services being offered at first, followed by 4G LTE options later in the year. EE is, of course, currently the only operator to offer 4G services to British consumers.

Phones4U has not yet revealed details of pricing on the new service provider, but says it'll offer "variety of tariffs and services" with a "broad appeal" to consumers.

According to today's press release, the deal with Phones4U brings EE's total number of MVNO partners up to 25. Phones4U's biggest domestic rival, the Carphone Warehouse, already operates its own virtual network, Talkmobile, through a partnership with Vodafone UK.

[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]

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]