EE and BT finally try to wring some extra ARPU out of 5G

While the superficial point of the event was to unveil EE’s shiny new 5GSA network, which has been switched on in no less that 15 UK cities, as well as its lustrous new Smart Hub (router) range, the underlying narrative concerned finding a way to get consumers to pay more for their connectivity.

That’s ultimately the responsibility of Marc Allera, CEO of EE and the group’s consumer boss. It was he (pictured) who took centre stage, accompanied Howard Watson, BT group Chief Security and Networks Officer, to get a bit more into the nitty gritty of the network side. Here’s Allera’s quote from the press release.

“Today, EE is launching UK firsts in network capabilities designed to unleash the huge potential of a wave of AI powered devices. 5G standalone is a new mobile network giving enhanced performance to customers from day one and unlocks game-changing new services of the future. It’s been built to handle the growing range of AI-powered devices, from smartphones to laptops, tablets and more.

“Wifi 7 for the home is another first for EE customers, giving households higher speeds and better capacity to support devices in every corner of their home. Together, these new technologies bring EE customers the best networks in and out of the home.”

The AI angle feels a bit bandwagon-y but Watson insisted when we spoke to him separately that the increasing demands of on-device genAI have significant implications for the network and any that can offer a superior user experience in that respect have an advantage. And from Allera’s perspective, anything that will catch the consumer eye and make them attach more value to their communications service, and thus be willing to pay more for it, is the name of the game.

Which brings us to the new tariffs. ‘5G standalone and Network Boost are included as part of the new All Rounder and Full Works, two of the new EE plans launching today', says the press release. Network Boost is some kind of premium quality-of-service perk that ‘will enhance performance to customers when the network is busy, by allocating more capacity to a customer’. Our understanding is that prices start at £43 per month SIM-only for the above but you can see the latest tariff document, in all its Byzantine glory, here.

Wifi 7 is the latest iteration of that technology that ‘will allow EE customers to benefit from gigabit wifi throughout the home with faster speed, less interference, more capacity and better performance'. There’s also the option of mesh boosters for houses that have unhelpful features like walls and floors. The Smart Hub Pro will come as standard on higher-tier full fibre package and our understanding is that some existing subscribers will be able to upgrade to it for an extra tenner a month.

Allera seems to have decided that, in the absence of a 5G ‘killer app’ the best way to try to get people to upgrade their packages is to offer an extensive bundle that consumers will perceive as greater than the sum of its parts. In response to a question from us about marketing Allera stressed that they are “trying to communicate around real-world problems and needs” and that “it’s a multi-year journey.”

So that will hopefully see the end of ads featuring blokes getting shaved by robots on the top of mountains and more of a focus on everyday communications. This makes sense, as does the decision to delay and 5GSA announcements until they have a decent level of coverage. “EE’s decision to take its time before launching 5G standalone was the right one,” said Kester Mann of CCS Insight, who also attended the event.

“Offering widespread coverage in each of its launch cities lays the groundwork for future services and helps set customer expectations. Given the industry’s enduring struggles to monetize investment, EE’s decision to charge a premium for 5G standalone is laudable. However, I question how long EE will be able to maintain it given that rivals Vodafone and Virgin Media O2 are already offering the technology for no extra charge.”

Those are all good points and we also applaud BT/EE for attempting to extract some extra cash from its stingy customer base. Most operators didn’t dare charge a premium for the first iteration of 5G as it offered so little above 4G for the average consumer. By positioning 5GSA as premium network access, as well as bundling it with other bells and whistles including a Google One AI Premium subscription, Allera, Watson and co have a fighting change at finally increasing that all important ARPU.