EE, the new mobile network set up by Orange and T-Mobile, is planning to charge customers about £5 per month on top of current contract costs to connect to its 4G network, according to a news report.
The Times reports that the network, which goes live on October 30 , has admitted that it will charge a premium for 4G, which is up to ten times faster than existing mobile networks.
An EE spokesman told The Times: “Our new superfast 4G service is a premium product that will allow you to do significantly more, significantly faster. The new plans are designed to be both accessible and affordable and in some instances will even introduce savings for heavy users.”
However, This is Money claims 4G technology is actually cheaper to run for the phone companies than the existing 3G services used on smartphones.
EE has blamed the premium cost on increased spending on infrastructure.
The company, which owns T-Mobile and Orange and has 27 million customers in Britain, has spent £1.5 million a day upgrading its network over the past year as it readies itself to launch 4G services. It will be the only operator to do so, as the likes of Vodafone and O2 have to wait for the auction of a new batch of airwaves at the start of next year.
EE’s 4G service will initially be available in 16 cities covering 20 million people. Customers can opt not to upgrade to avoid the higher contract costs.
