EE announce UK 4G LTE pricing and phone subsidies

EE uncovers price plans for LTE including phone subsidies and SIM only deals as well as fibre optic home broadband pricing

Well the wait is over and EE finally released their pricing structure for 4G in the UK in the early hours of this morning. Debates are already raging on comment threads about the particulars so let’s break it down.

First off we’re not surprised by these prices, in fact, given EE can effectively set whatever price they like at the moment for 4G access then these deals aren’t too bad at all. There was always going to be a premium but the hike could have been a lot more. One expert has said that these tariffs put 4G from EE at approximately 15-20% more expensive than an equivalent 3G service. One thing to note is that all of these plans come with unlimited texts and calls. For many this may not be an issue as your current plan will be tailored to suit your needs but for a network operator this is a big step – EE no longer care about standard rate voice / SMS charging on their network. Your tariff is paying for 4G data (and phone subsidy) alone.

The next thing to do is to look at the alternative 3G options and to do this we can compare with T-Mobile and Orange – they are all the same network now after all. Orange don’t seem to have a full unlimited offer on their site at the moment but T-Mobile offer unlimited texts / calls and 3G data for £41 and you can also pick up any of the LTE ready phones (so you can switch to 4G later) above for £20 – £70 cheaper than the EE listing (sneakily you can’t have the devices on a more expensive plan for free). 3 have also been offering unlimited 3G data contracts for some time. A question for many will be is unlimited access at lower speed better than capped high speed?

If you are on a T-Mobile or Orange 3G contract then you will have the option to upgrade to an EE contract early. Details are conflicting but it currently looks like there would be a 33% monthly discount for the remaining time of the 3G contract. There is also the option of a £99 upgrade to a 4G compatible version of your device if available.

The question really is if you have 4G connectivity and you’re willing to pay for it then just how much data will you use? The main selling point of 4G is the speed of access and what that entails – streaming TV, YouTube, getting big app downloads / updates done quickly on the move and all this eats data. Having quicker access to data naturally increases the amount that the user is going to consume – this effect was noticed when 3G became available on devices and mobile data rates soared. Some people have commented that the entry level  500MB and 1GB rates may just not be enough for many people. Even though these rates are fine for almost all 3G users (I get by on 1GB just fine only getting close some months) the argument is as soon as 4G is useful then you will use more data without even realising as webpages, videos, everything, gets to you more quickly. 15 minutes killing time browsing the web suddenly uses more data because you have quicker access to everything and have the ability to view more

This of course is why EE have the larger data caps although some have said that they expected the entry levels to be substantially higher. 500MB per month may be fine on 3G when I simply can’t connect to HD video streams on 3G. When I can connect however, that 500MB could disappear very easily. Those willing to pay though shouldn’t go through 8GB too easily.

When 3G got popular, one problem was customers getting huge bills when going over allowances. EE have been consumer savvy here by simply stopping access until a bolt on is purchased or the next bill period starts rather than charging straight away, a possible backlash neatly sidestepped before it had the chance to occur.

4G from EE is still only available in limited areas – click HERE to see their coverage map – and will be rolling out to more UK cities by the end of the year and through 2013 when the other major networks will begin to announce their offerings.

What are your thoughts on EE’s pricing structure? Are you in an area that is covered and if so will you be upgrading? Do you think the prices are fair? Are the data caps too low? Perhaps you want to take advantage of current unlimited 3G offers and wait for the the 4G pricing to settle over the next 12-18 months? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.