4G SIM NewsAs EE delivered its interim results for the six months ending 30th June 2015, it’s clear that the 4G operator is continuing to grow its customer base and expand its coverage across the UK.
EE’s interim results indicated it added a further 1.5 million customers in Q2 of 2015, taking its total user base to almost 11 million, an increase of 6.7 million year-on-year. The 4G operator, which is now the largest in Europe, says it is on target to reach 14 million 4G customers by the end of the year. While all new EE customers are being automatically put onto 4G contracts, the remaining 20 million of the operator’s 30.9 million customers are still on 3G, so EE will be hoping to persuade these customers to move to 4G in the near future.
Growth has been seen in the B2B sector with more than 8,300 corporations now using 4G from EE, an increase of 7% year-on-year. New business customers include Abercrombie & Fitch, Lufthansa and thetrainline.com.
EE reports that its 4G network now covers 90% of the UK population, with double speed 4G available to 70% of the population. 4G from EE is available in 600 major towns and cities, along with 6,200 smaller towns and villages. An additional 90 large towns have been covered during the first half of 2015 and Exmouth in South Devon was recently unveiled as the six hundredth large town or city to receive superfast 4GEE. 4G from EE now stretches from the coastal village of Sennen Cove in Cornwall to Roseisle in the North of Scotland, and from Newport in Norfolk to Tywyn in west Wales.
One of EE’s core concerns is improving customer satisfaction. To this end the operator has opened new stores, increasing its catchment area by 11% and providing more opportunities for in-store support. This has resulted in a 30% reduction in calls to service centres year-on-year. EE has also moved 1,000 customer support roles back to the UK a year ahead of schedule, and introduced a loyalty programme, the Power Bar, which provides customers with a free portable, swappable, charger, and has already been used by 1.1 million customers.
This year EE has won a number of awards including Fastest Mobile Broadband at the uSwitch Awards in January, Best Network at the Mobile News Awards in March 2015, and Best Consumer and Business Network at the Mobile Industry Awards in June 2015. Overall EE saw its revenue increase by a marginal 0.1% to £2,975m during Q2, delivering earnings before taxes and interest of £830 million.
According to Olaf Swantee, CEO of EE, “Our established leadership in 4G and key differentiators such as Wi-Fi calling are working well for the business. We’re the clear network market leader and this, combined with our strong operational performance, has led to a return to revenue growth while delivering our best ever EBITDA margin.The business continues to focus squarely on improving customer satisfaction and on cross-selling our innovative range of consumer and B2B 4G connected products.”