Mobile network operator EE have launched their new 4G tariffs for business and they're aiming to make 4G as affordable as 3G. Speaking to TechRadar EE's Mike Tomlinson, Small Business Marketing Director said "4G pricing is not a million miles away from 3G pricing. And the reason why we've kept the price close to 3G is that we want to make it available to everybody."
The new EE 4G service to be launched on October 30 will go live in 10 cities with a further six coming online before Christmas and they're aiming for 98% coverage by the end of 2013.
The new 4G business tariffs are split into a small sized business offering for businesses with fewer than 50 employees and another offering for businesses with 50 employees and more.
4GEE Small business offering
The small business tariffs, give small businesses unlimited free calls and texts but are differentiated through different levels of data, starting at 1Gb and rising in bands to 16Gb per month. If you're not a big data user, but want the speed and the better call quality, then EE have also produced a more basic £30 per month tariff, which offers 1Gb of data, along with 1000 minutes and 1000 texts per month. The £30 also hits a sweet spot in the current business phone market and competes directly with current 3G business offerings.
Additionally businesses are also offered a new 4GEE Call Sharer plan, which lets users share their colleagues' unused data, and includes inclusive calls to colleagues and landlines.
Large businesses can switch to a 4G service for just £3 a month on top of their existing plans, and data plans rise to 64Gb per month, they can also take advantage of the 4GEE Call Share plans.
EE are keen that they don't see bill shock headlines for the new 4G service and have built-in automatic warnings that are flagged when a user reaches 80% of their monthly allowance.
Additionally the new tariffs are flexible, if you find you're using more data you can shift up to a tariff offering more data a month, likewise if you use less then you can move down – although you can't move any lower down than the tariff you originally signed on.
Fast fibre to 11 million premises on launch
As well as the launch of 4G, EE also announced the role out of their fast fibre optic broadband service. The fibre service is through BT's fibre network and will be available to over 11 million premises nationally on launch rising to a 1/3 of the population by the end of the 2012, and 50% by the end of 2013. Prices start at £22 per month for a 38Mbps offering , with free off-peak calls and a free router.
