EE announces MNVO deal; tweaks tariffs

UK operator EE, the Deutsche Telekom and France Télécom joint venture, has announced that a new MVNO will soon be running on its network. Phones 4u, an independent mobile retailer well-known on UK high streets, will launch LIFE Mobile in March.

The MVNO will initially offer just 3G and 2G services, but EE said it will bring 4G LTE to LIFE Mobile later in 2013. This will take the number of EE’s network partnerships to 25.

EE kick-started LTE in the UK in late October 2012, when it launched in 11 cities around the country. It currently has the national UK LTE market to itself but will face stiffer competition by the summer as its major rivals, Telefonica’s O2, Hutchison’s 3 brand and Vodafone and all likely to launch LTE following the spectrum auctions, which are scheduled to take place imminently.

In addition, EE has announced a promotional deal dropping the price of its entry-level plan from £36 to £31 a month, which offers a LTE ready handset for £29.99 on a 24-month plan with 500MB of mobile data.

The move has been noted as a response to widespread criticism of the price of the tariff for a relatively small amount data, but the deal is not permanent and will run from 31 January to 31 March.

It has also introduced a plan for ‘superusers’,offering 20GB of data for £61 a month on a 12-month SIM only-contract or with a handset for £76. There is also a promotional deal on this offering a £15 discount for those signing up before 28 February.

EE is also offering a new SIM-only plan offering 8GB of data for £41 a month.

Representatives from EE will be speaking at theLTE World Summit, the premier 4G event for the telecoms industry, taking place on the 24^th-26^thJune 2013, at the Amsterdam RAI, Netherlands.Click here to download a flyer for the event.