EE switches on “world’s fastest” 4G in London
EE has announced that it has enabled its “4G+” network in central London – which should mean faster 4G for a select few users, with speeds apparently up to 150Mbps.
The new technology, which is also known as “LTE-Advanced” works by aggregating together the various frequencies on which 4G can operate – meaning that your phone (if it supports it) will be able to download more data simultaneously. According to EE, this “carrier aggregation” combines 20MHz of 1800MHz and 20MHz of 2.6GHz spectrum.
Now the bad news: Currently only two phones support the LTE-A standard: The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 and the Samsung Galaxy Alpha, so you’ll need one of those (on EE) to experience the full benefits. Not even the new iPhone 6 is compatible.
Similarly, the places where it is available is still incredibly limited: with only Shoreditch, Old Street, Southbank, Soho, Westminster and Kensington being specifically highlighted as areas where it will work. EE apparently plans to roll it out to all of central London, as well as Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool by June next year.
Meanwhile there’s also good news for EE customers in Alexandria (Scotland), Banbury, Biggleswade, Blaydon, Catterick Garrison, Cookstown (Northern Ireland), Garforth, Greenock, Holmfirth, Limavady (Northern Ireland), Maltby, Oxted, Penicuik (Scotland), Tring, Waltham Cross, Warminster, Warwick, Winterbourne, and Ystrad Mynach (Wales), where the company has just switched on regular old 4G, at long last. Though it didn’t get the ginger kid in the office to dress up as Prince Harry this time.
