By Monsur Ahmed
Finally, after weeks of wrangling and threats of legal action, EE will be rolling out its 4G service with the auction for other spectrums to go ahead much sooner than originally expected. Which is great news considering not only will it provide much higher speeds (see BBC’s Rory Cellan-Jones impressive demo) but it also promises to boost economic growth as well as adding billions to the government’s coffers that could potentially be used to build thousands of new homes and create new jobs.
Whilst the macro-economic benefits are very much welcomed, what does it mean for the mobile phone user? With DSL level speeds (up-to 30mb), its expected people will be able to watch videos from services such as iPlayer or 4oD, without interruption or buffering. In addition, with its much stronger and stable connection as well its greater range, it’ll be a welcome advancement for those in hard to reach or built up areas. However getting 4G may not be as attainable and accessible as EE’s executives would like us to think.
As everyone is well aware, you’ll need a brand new phone that’s 4G compatible – but not just any 4G phone. Any 4G phone bought before mid September, except the iPhone 5, won’t work on EE due to differing operating frequencies. So anyone who bought a Samsung S3 when it launched, frustratingly won’t be able to utilise its 4G capability.
More annoyingly the current iPhone 5 won’t work on O2 and Vodafone, when they release their own version of 4G next year. To remedy this O2 have offered a ‘promise’ to customers, allowing them to sign up for the iPhone 5, but then letting them upgrade to a 4G version as and when Apple releases a handset that will work on its network. Without getting into the T&Cs, O2 is essentially offering its customers the option of buying another handset for a slight discount or buying themselves out of their contract by trading in their current phone and paying the difference. It’s not much of an incentive and it’s expected that O2 will lose many of customers to EE when many of its iPhone legacy customers contracts run out.
To add further difficulties, while switching to EE will be free for T-mobile and Orange users, the cost of using their 4G service certainly won’t be. Whilst the executives of EE have been vague around pricing plans, it’s expected there will be an extra levy to have the privilege of using 4G on top of your standard contract. EE’s executives have been keen to assert that their 4G service is intended for the mass market and will not be the preserve of the elite. Yet the extra charge on top of a new expensive contract may only be viable for those that really want the extra speed and are prepared to pay for it or those that can simply afford it.
All in all, hopefully like all new technological innovations, I hope 4G will become more affordable in future, with cheaper handsets as well as cheaper contracts when EE has actually has competition for the service.
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