Faster broadband will be available from late summer but no info about where or how much
EE, adopted in April as BT Group’s consumer brand, is to offer fibre broadband of 1.6Gbps and new home hardware. The service provider will rely on full fibre infrastructure and a 1.8 Gbps product to deliver over 1.6 Gbps download speeds into customer homes.
EE is to provide pricing for the service and hardware “in due course”, so the timing of this announcement is interesting.
The announcement that launches EE as BT Group’s consumer brand is within a day of Vodafone UK and Three UK announcing they finally hammered out their merger deal. One of the motivations for the merger, which they hope will help gain approval from competition authorities, is to be better placed to compete against the UK’s two converged operators – BT/EE and Virgin Media O2.
What we do know
EE’s new hardware includes Smart Hub Plus and Smart Hybrid Connect. It was designed by Tej Chauhan and the casings are up to 95% made of recyclable plastics and includes mobile back-up by EE’s cellular network.
EE says the hardware will have the “best-in-class Wi-Fi controls” designed to provide improved service around the premises. It allows householders to give priority to certain applications, such as for working from home or gaming, and provides better parental control.
Health advice
EE is also preparing to open its new flagship store, the EE Studio. Details are scant beyond the service provider claiming it will be the largest of its kind in the UK, with pro-gaming zone which customers can book, and the UK’s first ‘Digital Spa’, “where visitors are shown how to form a healthier relationship with technology”.
Avoiding rip-off charging and mid-contract rises above the rate of inflation would be a good start in keeping blood pressure in check, Mobile Europe suggests.