Vodafone and EE begin LTE-A rollout in the UK
UK joins world's fastest mobile internet club with next generation 4G+ rollout — EE joins Vodafone with mobile data speeds five times faster than average UK broadband in London, with Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool added in 2015
Context & Ripple Effects
EE's 2012 launch of 4G service in 11 UK cities established its early network lead, while its subsequent 4G roaming arrangement with AT&T showed that coverage and network capability also mattered to international partners. LTE-A raises the competitive benchmark from basic 4G availability to peak data performance.
The rollout begins in London, with EE planning Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool coverage in 2015. Vodafone entering alongside EE makes high-speed 4G a two-carrier race rather than an EE-only differentiator.
First-order effects
- EE and Vodafone can market LTE-A in London at speeds described as five times average UK broadband, giving their data-heavy mobile customers a higher-performance tier.
- EE's planned 2015 expansion gives Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool a defined place in its next-wave 4G buildout.
Second-order effects
- EE and Vodafone's parallel launches put pressure on UK mobile rivals to answer on network speed and city coverage, rather than compete only on standard 4G availability.
- The value of EE's existing roaming relationship with AT&T rises with network performance, since visiting customers are tied to EE's UK access network.
Third-order effects
- If LTE-A deployment spreads beyond the initial cities, UK mobile competition will increasingly turn on upgrade cadence and capacity in major urban markets.
- The shift from launching 4G to improving its performance points toward a market in which each new radio-network generation resets carrier differentiation before nationwide coverage is complete.
The trend: UK carriers are moving from competing over 4G launch coverage to competing over successive network-performance upgrades in major cities.