Rural homes and offices in part of Cumbria will be able to use EE’s 4G mobile network as an alternative to fixed-line broadband from next month. EE is expanding its rural broadband trial in the northern part of the Lake District to cover more than 100 square miles, where it’ll offer ‘superfast’ broadband speeds to over 2,000 residents and businesses for the first time.
Customers will be able to pay a promotional rate of £25 per month for 20GB of data, with a Huawei B953 WiFi router available for £69.99. Monthly pricing will rise to £30 from the end of January 2014.
Next year, EE plans to increase its coverage in Cumbria and also aims to bring 4G to Bodmin Moor in Cornwall.
Olaf Swantee, the CEO of EE, said “Our goal is to enhance the digital lives of everyone in the UK, and this major expansion of our superfast broadband service in one of the most rural and geographically challenging areas of the country is a big step towards that goal. There is a lot of work to do in 2014 to reach more people and businesses in rural areas, and investment-friendly government policies have an important role to play in supporting this, but today we have proven that 4G has the capability to connect this country’s unconnected, and EE intends to continue to be at the forefront of that.”