Think 4G is too expensive? EE has responded to criticism of high prices and meagre data by adding cheaper prices and more data to your iPhone 5, Samsung Galaxy S3 LTE or other 4G phone.
A new £31 monthly deal launches on 31 January. This new 24-month contract gets you unlimited UK calls and texts, and 500MB of mobile data. That's the cheapest deal EE has offered so far, but you do have to pay extra for whichever phone you choose. The new deal slashes a fiver off the current cheapest deal.
If you only want to sign up for a year, giving you more freedom to change deal, phone or even network later on, the monthly payment is £41.
More data for 'super-users'
One of the criticisms levelled at EE is that the data allowances are too small, especially when the service is designed for you to use data faster and, therefore, probably use more of it. EE protests that only 1 per cent of 4G customers want more than 8GB -- but that doesn't count the many people who've avoided becoming EE customers for precisely that reason.
Anyway, EE is catering to those data-gobbling 'super-users' with a new maximum data allowance of 20GB. Buy your own phone and EE will furnish you with a SIM card and 20GB of data each month for a year, for £46.
A 20GB deal with a phone thrown in costs £61 per month, lasting two years.
If you're tempted by those prices, don't hang about: if you sign up before the end of February you'll get that price for the length of your contract. But anyone signing up from 1 March will have to pay £61 per month for the SIM-only deal or an eye-watering £76 per month if you get a phone too.
Pre-emptive strike
The cheaper tariff is welcome, but still comes with a pretty miserly data allowance. Telecoms analyst Matthew Howett at Ovum reckons EE has made changes partly as a response to criticism, but also to pre-empt rivals: "EE's decision to offer both a lower-priced tariff at the entry level and a plan with more data at the top end is clearly in response to customer feedback.
"More importantly though, it is a pre-emptive strike aimed at competitors who are soon to launch tariffs of their own once the long-overdue auction of 4G licences is completed."
Rival networks could launch 4G services as soon as May, including the newly announced Phones 4U network Life Mobile.
Are these new tariffs EE-conomical or EE-xpensive? Tell me your thoughts in the comments or on our Facebook page, and press play on our video below to see EE's 4G phones in action.
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Comments 22
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anonymous 22 January, 2013 17:00
"If you're tempted by those prices, don't hang about: if you sign up before the end of February you'll get that price for the length of your contract. But anyone signing up from 1 March will have to pay £61 per month for the SIM-only deal or an eye-watering £76 per month if you get a phone too."
Or wait until May and get a contrat then... buying something for which there is no competition is likely always more expensive, very unlikely that they will really be able to keep the price that high for long, they just try to scare you into signing up quickly now, so that they do not have to compete with the other companies starting 4g in May.
anonymous 22 January, 2013 17:19
No interest whatsoever. I'm only upgrading my terms if I get to pay the same as I've been paying. Till then, 3G and Wi-Fi will do just fine.
anonymous 22 January, 2013 18:08
they are the big time losers. they have earned nothing but hatred... i have no interest left to buy their packages... will surely wait for other parties to get in
anonymous 22 January, 2013 18:31
Here in Denmark, I'm getting a sim only 6 month contract with unlimited calls, unlimited texts, and 8GB of 3G data per month, running at a download speed of 11Mbs, all for £10 per month.
These service provides in the UK are taking you guys for a ride with those prices. If small mobile providers here can offer the prices I'm getting, the big guys in the UK can easily offer deals 4x cheaper than their current. Where the hell is the competition?
anonymous 22 January, 2013 21:46
The awful availability of 4G signal is another problem... why pay extra for 4G, when you get mostly only 3g, if at all??
In the UK, the only reason EE has 4G early, is the spare bandwidth provided by the merger of tmobile & orange... the competition starts this summer..
- unless you want to try phones-4u ???
http://crave.cnet.co.uk/mobiles/phones-4u-creates-own-network-life-mobile-4g-this-year-50010217/
or wait for the PROPER one... :p
http://blog.phoneslimited.co.uk/2012/12/25/ofcom-announces-o2-vodafone-ee-and-three-to-participate-in-4g-spectrum-bid/
anonymous 23 January, 2013 08:18
If Carlsberg did 4G it would probably be the best 4G in the world....
Eric Manktelow 23 January, 2013 08:51
Still no interest in paying still overinflated prices for under specced contract.
Once it comes down to the same data allowances at the same cost as a 3G contract I'll jump at it.
TIll then, no chance.
CaptainPicard 23 January, 2013 09:43
I think these tariffs show that only a few people adopted 4G and EE are in financial trouble. EE, 4G in the UK is a rip off, even though they've decreased their prices, you can't use you 4G phone to the full with all the data limits. I bet this story has made the few that brought a 4G contract angry.
anonymous 23 January, 2013 11:13
people have lost their minds if they are paying them prices
anonymous 23 January, 2013 13:07
Still to expensive for too ittle data, when data is really the whole point of 4G. Also the special offer if you sign up now is clearly t rush people into contracts before rivals get to say what they are offering. Also what of all those people already signed to their mega priced deals when they went live?
My advice to eveyone is wait until rivals are operating then give it a year or two for the 4G network to settle down then consider you're options again.
I've ust signed a new 3G deal for 2 years as I think it will be at least that before 4G is well priced wit enough data allounce to be worth considering.
anonymous 23 January, 2013 13:15
People, who sign up to one of these 4g deals now, will surely regret it once there is some real competition in the market. Just as those who signed up to EE’s original low usage, hyper pricy deals are no doubt now regretting it.
Ignore EE’s attempt to rush you into a deal now, they will of course offer their best prices once they have to compete with other operators, until then they are going to exploit their monopoly for all it’s worth and the old deals clearly weren’t garnering much interest hence this attempt to offer better but not really good deals now.
anonymous 23 January, 2013 13:32
horrible price plans and way too expensive. I will never go over 30 p/month for my contract and I would expect a phone with that price. Considering u got wifi in most places, especially the house and the office, why go for such an expensive plan? this is purely for people who travel a lot - and travelling a lot means u may anways not have access to 4g plans !! so its total waste. I m surprised anyone would go for these plans and people should just wait for other carrier to start offering 4g and create some competition.
anonymous 23 January, 2013 14:45
My contract with EE ends 24th Feb. I am not renewing with them either, the ransom of 4G which has little to no availability in most of greater london areas just proves its not worth it.
A friend of mine just got a 4G EE contract from phones for you who are offering the 1Gb plan for £31. And he said that 4G is pretty awful.
Im going to voda cos they have the lumia 920. No point of 4G yet, competition will drive prices down
anonymous 23 January, 2013 17:15
The main reason to have 4g to me would be to watch streaming movies on my phone during my daily train commute. These are the reasons 4G at present is not a viable solution for me;
(A) Current data plans mean I’d have to go for a stupidly expensive contract to do this regularly.
(B) My route is only partly in the London 4G zone.
(C) My route has patchy EE network coverage at best.
I can also avoid the need for a fast data- link for most video on my Android phone as follows:
(1) youTube can now cache things while on Wifi for watching with only a poor connection to start them off.
(2) Until the BBC support mobile download on Android you can side load their programmes via a third party client at home and copy them across for offline viewing.
(3) Google Play movies can be downloaded to watch offline.
So why do I need overpriced 4G again EE? And if I did need it how would it actually be viable for my planned usage. This is why I’m sticking with 3G until the 4G mobile network is more advanced and has competition.
anonymous 23 January, 2013 17:28
Ok if EE as they claim are pleased with the amount of take up they’ve been getting on 4g, why would they now be offering better deals? It seems obvious to me that it makes no business sense to do this unless you are trying to encourage higher take up.
They are trying to sign more people up on long contracts before the competition appears and prices are driven down, while data caps are driven up. They are exploiting the monopoly they were granted and clearly take up was not good enough to satisfy them they were getting maximum advantage.
Clearly come May people who sign up now will feel like mugs, as the people who signed up when the service went live now feel like mugs as they are locked into paying more than people signing up with EE today.
anonymous 23 January, 2013 20:33
@CaptainPicard: 4G, yes, but they still have very good deals on 3G... :)
10:5 a month for 500M, 300 mins any network, unlimited texts, plus usual orange extras..
http://www.carphonewarehouse.com/buy/ORANGE_SIMCARD_P10EP_D147C
anonymous 23 January, 2013 20:51
Excuse my language but this is bullsh*t!! What kind of prices are these? Honestly these people are insane, they will not build a customer base having prices and data plans like this. I remember visiting theire website, looking at it for a minute and I was like 'This is not for my wallet'. Who cares if the internet is fast if it's only 500mb you get and when you choose 20gb it's a a fortune! I heard they were already closing shops - good! We need another company with a better business plan to start up 4G in the UK. NEXT!!
anonymous 23 January, 2013 21:15
do you really *have* to watch streamed movies?? can you not d/l it on your PC, and copy to your memory card?? you do know you can get 64Gigabyte ones now... you DO have a slot, dont you??
there are plenty of dumb mugs out there to keep 'em happy..
anonymous 24 January, 2013 10:55
anonymous 23 January, 2013 20:51:..
WTH do you want to d/l 20Gb A MONTH??? that is a crazy figure, even for a desktop pc...
you need to read the comments on this link, to see the REALITY is about 3gigabytes normally!!!
http://pressf1.pcworld.co.nz/showthread.php?68718-20GB-monthly-internet-usage
If you were not so lazy, you may have found THIS offer....
http://www.carphonewarehouse.com/buy/3_PAYM_SIMCARD_3N137_D115C?intcmp=SRLP_Nov_3DATA
anonymous 25 January, 2013 08:06
Just for comparison, its 400 rubles (8 pounds) a month, contract free, for unlimited calls, text and 3.5G internet in Moscow. And this is in a city that is regularly reported to be one of the most expensive in the world.
anonymous 25 January, 2013 23:13
Ridiculous. 4G means data and the EE plans insult data. The phone doesn't need 4G to work. So why insult us with a measly data tariff like Vodafone provides for 3G. I switched to 3 network and am happy as larry! Wifi is everywhere which helps keep cellular data use minimal but a light user will still use between 1GB to 2GB. 500Mb is taken up by apps and push email as a PAYG friend discovered.
anonymous 17 March, 2013 14:19
4G is a step in the right direction for the UK. We are at least 3 to 4 years behind everyone else in the world, but no point paying a massive cost towards data plans and streaming when most apps, movies e.t.c can be downloaded over wifi and watched later. Absolutely no point in charging extra for 4G. Yes its a rip off and it will not help moving the country forward with tech or innovation with prices such as EE are offering. Most if not all home broadband deals come with unlimited data so whats the problem with mobile networks in the UK still?