• EE switches on latest 4G+ network upgrade to get the UK’s fastest ever real world mobile download speeds
• Cardiff and London the first cities to benefit from increased 4G network capacity, with Birmingham, Manchester and Edinburgh next
• Latest 4G+ capability uses cutting edge technology to get even more capacity and faster speeds from existing spectrum resources
• Sony’s Xperia XZ Premium is the UK’s first ‘Cat 16’ smartphone and EE is the only mobile network that can support the new device’s unique upload and download capabilities

EE, the UK’s largest mobile network operator and part of the BT Group, has switched on the next generation of its 4G+ network and demonstrated live download speeds of 429Mbps in Cardiff city centre using Sony’s Xperia XZ Premium, which launched on Friday 2 June.

The state of the art network capability has been switched on in Cardiff and the Tech City area of London today. Birmingham, Manchester and Edinburgh city centres will have sites upgraded during 2017, and the capability will be built across central London. Peak speeds can be above 400Mbps with the right device, and customers connected to these sites should be able to consistently experience speeds above 50Mbps.

Sony’s Xperia XZ Premium is the UK’s first ‘Cat 16’ smartphone optimised for the EE network, and EE is the only mobile network upgrading its sites to be able to support the new device’s unique upload and download capabilities. All devices on the EE network will benefit from the additional capacity and technology that EE is building into its network.

Marc Allera, EE CEO, said:

“Sony has raised the bar in smartphone speeds, and we’re investing and innovating to match that and give our customers the fastest network speeds in the UK. What we’ve demonstrated live in Cardiff is more than ten times the average mobile download speed. We’re rolling out this new capability in Cardiff and London’s Tech City, and we’ll keep expanding to the busiest areas of the UK so that our customers always have a great connection to do the things they love.”

How the technology works

The sites that are capable of delivering these maximum speeds are equipped with 20MHz of 1800MHz spectrum, and 35MHz of 2.6GHz spectrum. The 2.6GHz carriers are delivered using 4x4 MIMO, which sends and receives four signals instead of just one, making the spectrum up to four times more efficient. The sites also broadcast 4G using 256QAM, or Quadrature Amplitude Modulation, which increases the efficiency of the spectrum.

These two cutting edge technologies applied to EE’s award-winning 4G network help to further improve customer experience by increasing capacity, meaning faster speeds and a more reliable data experience.