United Kingdom based consumers have been watching the Everything Everywhere (EE) story unfold over the last month, waiting patiently for the UK’s first 4G LTE network to release details regarding the tariffs that will be available when the provider officially launches on October 30th. We’ve been drip-fed information over the last few weeks regarding the handsets that will be available as well as the potential data speeds that consumers could expect to achieve, and now, we have the final piece of the jigsaw with the official release of the available tariffs and associated handset prices.
EE has attempted to make the tariffs and pricing extremely simple to understand, with Olaf Swantee, the company’s chief executive officer, describing the 4G LTE plans as finding the “sweet spot” for consumers. Individual tariffs with a handset will come in five flavors, with £36 per month getting you 500MB of data, the £41 per month plan including 1GB of data, the £46 per month plan increasing to 3GB of data, the £51 per month plan offering 5GB and a bundled 8GB of 4G data setting consumers back a whopping £56 per month. All 4GEE plans come with unlimited domestic calling and text messaging included.
The company has also crafted four individual SIM-only plans for those that already own an iPhone 5 or a 4G smartphone that is compatible with the EE network. Deals start at £21 a month for 500MB and rise to £36 per month for the top 5GB plan. All SIM-only 4GEE plans come with the same unlimited domestic calling and text messages benefits.
Handset prices have also been released as part of the announcement, with most devices having an initial payment attached to them. The HTC One XL will command a £149.99 initial payment if taken on the lowest £36 per month plan, with that figure dropping to £29.99 if purchased with a 8GB £56 per month tariff. The Huawei Ascend P1 is the only free handset that is offered by EE on £41 per month plans and higher. The iPhone 5 is probably the most desired device available and those who opt for the £36 per month 500MB option will be paying an initial £179.99 for the 16GB variant or a rather whopping £379.99 for the 64GB model.
EE really seem to have gone to town with this roll-out by offering a number of dedicated business plans, with the option to add additional sharing devices for a reduced rate. In addition to the tariffs announced, the network is also offering various bolt-on services such as international roaming for an additional £5 per month, and the ability to add additional data bundles at will. It may be billed as “superfast, super simple” but the lack of an unlimited data plan and prices higher than expected may put some off.
(source EverythingEverywhere)
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