What is the most used mobile network in the UK?

13th August 2021

Mobile phones have become an integral part of human life. They control household appliances, cars and regulate the temperature in the house at a distance, report about the weather or project the phone images on the TV screen. To get a good mobile network with reliable signal, good speeds and quality service has never been more important. Mobile network performance can be assessed in a variety of ways, including SIM-only offerings, network coverage, download speeds, customer satisfaction, and service costs. Choose the best mobile network that suits you from comparemymobile.com.

From this article, you will get to know about EE – the biggest and most used network in the UK.

One of The Big Four

In the UK there are only four main mobile networks: EE, O2, Vodafone and Three. EE is a British mobile network operator and internet service provider, which represents a blending of T-Mobile and Orange and is part of the BT Group. EE is the largest mobile network operator in the United Kingdom, with 27.5 million subscribers. This company was the first one to introduce the 4G network in the UK back in 2012. The company has also branched out into home and mobile broadband, as well as TV packages.

The provider gives 4G voice and data coverage across more than 90% of the UK’s geography and more than 99% of its population, giving it excellent coverage up and down the country. EE supports 4G Calling and Wi-Fi Calling for top-notch sounding calls. EE proposed 5G plans in May 2019 and it was the first network in the UK who did it. It still boasts the UK’s largest 5G network, covering nearly 40% of all connections. There are no extra charges for using your minutes, texts, and data across the EU. EE is more expensive than others on the market.

Coverage:If we are talking about the coverage, EE gives you 2G, 3G and 4G for 99 percent of the population in the UK. The connection speed you’ll get depends on the phone you own and the EE plan you’re signed up to. But even the cheapest EE plans can get you a theoretical connection speed of up to 60Mbps, in parts of central London the maximum speeds can reach up to 150Mbps.

On the 30th of May, 2019 EE presented 5G coverage in 6 cities in the UK. Nowadays, this figure has reached 160 cities. If you want to try 5G coverage you must have a phone and a plan that supports 5G. 5G connection can give you more than 500Mbps of speed.

Network speed and frequencies:EE speed for 4G connection is 36.4Mbps, for 5G connection is 149.9Mbps. EE is one of the fastest networks in the UK. The frequencies of EE are:

– 800MHz, 1800MHz, 2100MHz and 2600MHz for 4G coverage

– 2100MHz for 3G coverage

– 1800MHz for 2G coverage

– 3.4GHz, 3.6GHz for 5G coverage

Also EE can propose you 4G+ with a speed that is faster up to 25 times than 3G speed. Nowadays, the most important aim for EE is to spread its 5G for other cities.

Plans: EE has SIM-only plans, Pay Monthly plans and pay as you go bundles. These plans have 4G coverage, but 5G coverage can be proposed only on some of the plans. There are 3 offers for SIM-only and Pay Monthly plans: Essential, Smart and Full Works plans. Only Smart plans propose you 5G. 4G is proposed for all others plans on Sim-only and Pay monthly, also with the free data network. Pay as you go bundles do not propose you free roaming beyond the UK. It lasts for 30 days and after ending it will automatically recur.

Roaming:If you are a subscriber of EE you can go abroad and be roaming free in 48 countries. If your plan is Smart Plan, here you can get “Roam Further” which opens free roaming for you in the US, Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand, too. You can up your list to 53 countries to be roaming free.

To The Moon Mobile is a young online based mobile provider operating in the UK, that is selling 30-day SIM Only plans, which all come with unlimited UK calls and texts, so you just need to choose how much monthly data you have. This provider can propose you 28 roaming destinations in Europe. Outside the EU additional roaming fees apply, but you can get an international roaming SIM card. 

Tethering, WiFi Calling and VoLTE:

EE proposes free tethering on all of the plans. It means that you are up to use as much data as it needs for you. But be careful, because you can stay with no data until the end of the month.

WI-FI calling and messages are proposed on the EE plans. But if you want to get the best speed and quality, you should buy your smartphone directly from EE. This gives you guarantee of good work and compatibility between WI-FI calling and network.

In general, VoLTE means Voice Over LTE. On EE VoLTE is called 4G calling. It can work only on select phones. But you can be sure to get this service, if you are buying your phone from EE.

Conclusion

EE is a top-class mobile network that offers the fastest data and higher speeds that is possible on 4G or on 5G than other networks. EE propose you the best coverage, extras and roaming outside the EU. EE is tough to beat on the UK’s mobile network market.