EE has announced a three-year, £1.5 billion network investment plan, under which the operator plans to extend its geographical coverage across the UK, including in badly or not at all connected rural areas, as well as continuing rolling out 4G with an aim for it to take over 2G by 2017.
RootMetrics has published its Mobile Network Performance Review for the second half of 2014, once again placing EE as the best in the UK. However with Three not far behind as second, followed by O2 and finally Vodafone, the testing specialist claimed all four operators are doing well.
Things are set to get a lot more difficult for all other UK telco and content players. The country’s dominant fixed line operator and its largest mobile operator have agreed on a price for the former to buy the latter, having first announced the potential move late last year. The combined operations will have a distinct advantage in the delivery of combined communications services, generally referred to as multiplay.
Dixons Carphone has announced it is entering the UK mobile market this spring with an MVNO service, which will run on 3’s network. The new business will also offer internet connectivity to smart devices sold in the retailer’s stores.
Following confirmation form both Hutchison Whampoa and Telefónica the two indeed are in official talks over the sale of Telefónica’s O2 to 3’s owner Hutchison, industry analysts have been quick to offer their views on how this proposed bid would affect the UK mobile market if approved. It seems it is a thorny issue.
The Broadband Stakeholder Group (BSG), an advisory organisation to the UK government, has announced that with EE, Virgin Media and Vodafone as the latest to join, all UK ISPs have now signed up to its Open Internet Code.
Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa and Spain’s Telefónica are in talks over a possible merger of their respective UK subsidiaries Three and O2, according to a report. Following BT’s preliminary talks with owners of EE, Orange and Deutsche Telekom (DT), as well as Telefónica over O2, it was reported Hutchison was also preparing to bid for one of the two UK operators.
American multiplay operator AT&T has confirmed it has undertaken a trial of LTE broadcast technology in Texas, USA. The trial focussed on delivering live digital content in stadia to attendees of an American football match, which took place earlier this week.
EE has announced its 4G customer base has reached 7.7 million, up from 5.7 million since the start of last year. The UK operator claimed this sets a new European record for 4G growth.
Huawei, EE and Qualcomm have partnered for an LTE category 9 interoperability trial, claiming to have achieved download speeds of up to 410Mbps. The partners said this represents a significant step forward in the industry’s attempt to improve download speeds and reliability.
EE has acquired UK mobile airtime distributor Mainline Digital Communications. The two have been partnering for several years in the business sector, and EE already had a 26% share in the company.
The UK Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has announced it has reached what it calls a “landmark” agreement with operators EE, O2, Vodafone and Three on how to tackle coverage issues in rural Britain. However, the agreement seems a far-cry from the original tough talk from the Culture Secretary Savid Javid.
Following reports last week, UK regulator Ofcom has confirmed the appointment of Sharon White as its new Chief Executive. Joining from the HM Treasury, where she is Second Permanent Secretary, White will officially take the reins in March next year.
Former UK telco monopoly BT has announced it has chosen the UK’s biggest mobile operator – EE – for exclusive acquisition talks, having previously conceded it was looking at O2 or EE. If the deal goes through BT would occupy a dominant position in the UK telco market as it already owns substantial fixed-line assets as well as a significant chuck of exclusive content and some 4G spectrum of its own.
Ofcom has published a report on customer satisfaction levels in mobile, broadband, pay TV and landline services. Compared to previous years, the report showed steady level of satisfaction in mobile with O2 topping the table in the mobile service provider stakes. Meanwhile RootMetrics put EE on top in London.
The Chief Executive of Orange, Stephane Richard, has dropped a hint about the ongoing discussions with BT over a possible acquisition of EE, allegedly stating that he’s expecting a decision from the British telco in the next few weeks.
EE has announced it is to launch a micro network to connect some of UK’s rural communities that currently don’t have a reliable mobile or high speed broadband connection. The telco said it has successfully trialled the connected antenna technology in a Cumbrian village, and will connect 1,500 communities by the end of 2017.
Vodafone Greece has moved closer to becoming a multiplay service provider by acquiring 72.7% of Hellas Online (HOL), the country’s second largest broadband and fixed-line services provider. The mobile operator acquired Hellas Online for a total cash sum of €72.7m (£57.56m).
Following the news earlier this week about BT’s preliminary acquisition talks with EE and O2, it has been reported Hutchison Whampoa is preparing to make an offer of its own for one of the mobile operators.
Deutsche Telekom and Orange, the joint shareholders of EE, have confirmed initial discussions with BT over a possible sale of the UK mobile operator. In a statement the German and French giants said they are exploring the possibility as part of their regular market assessment to evaluate different strategic options.
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