Rebranded EE to introduce commercial LTE by end-2012

Everything Everywhere has made a number of notable announcements, chief among them being a corporate rebranding and the release of a timeframe for the commercial launch of 4G services.

While confirming that it plans to continue using the Orange and T-Mobile brands for customers, Everything Everywhere has revealed that it is rebranding simply as EE, with the new moniker also set to be used as a customer-facing brand for its to-be-launched Long Term Evolution (LTE) services. In line with the name change, EE has also revealed that it expects to open more than 700 EE-branded retail stores across the UK, replacing the existing Orange and T-Mobile shop fronts.

EE has also set out its timetable for the inauguration of LTE services, while also revealing that it will add fibre-based broadband services to the range of products that it offers. The operator has announced that it’s 4G network has already been switched on in four cities – London, Bristol, Cardiff and Birmingham – in order to allow engineers to begin live testing and systems integration, ahead of the consumer launch. In terms of commercial access, meanwhile, the operator has said that it aims to launch in a total of 16 cities by Christmas 2012, with those being: London, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Derby, Glasgow, Hull, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham, Sheffield and Southampton. This initial coverage, EE claims, will mean that its LTE network covers around a third of the population (or more than 20 million people) by the end of the year. Looking ahead, the operator has said it expects coverage to increase to 70% by the end of 2013, before rising to 98% by end-2014.