EE has switched on its double-speed 4G service in 12 cities across the UK, increasing its current average mobile data speeds to 24-30Mbps. The higher speeds will initially be available at no extra cost to existing 4GEE customers as part of a promotional offer.

Double 4G speeds are available from today in Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Derby, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Nottingham and Sheffield. The theoretical maximum speed is 150Mbps.

Olaf Swantee, CEO of EE, said “Last year we launched the first superfast 4G and Fibre broadband network in the UK. Now we’re staying one step ahead with the launch of double speed 4G and a range of new innovative plans and services – designed to transform the way our customers connect and share content. Our new double speed 4G technology means that we have the biggest, fastest and best network in the UK, and now the equal fastest in the world. With our superfast network, we have a unique opportunity to introduce a new era of customer-friendly pricing models based on speed, and we’ll be revealing further details of this later this year.”

Shared tariffs are being introduced from 17th July, enabling customers to connect up to five separate devices on one 4GEE plan at discounted rates and with a single bill.

There’ll also be ‘pay as you go’ 4G tariffs for customers who don’t want a monthly contract. Prices start from £15 for a SIM-only deal with 2GB of mobile data that lasts for 30 days. A ‘top up’ of data costs from £3 for 500MB.

In addition, EE is launching its own mobile contactless payment service. It’s called Cash on Tap and has been created in partnership with MasterCard. The NFC service will be accepted at over 230,000 outlets across the UK and can currently be used with the Samsung Galaxy S4, Sony Xperia SP and Samsung Galaxy S3 LTE. Customers will be able to download the EE Tap Wallet app from Google Play.