BT has announced its first major plans for EE since acquiring the mobile operator in January, including bringing the company's customer service back to the UK and significantly expanding 4G coverage.
The operator said it would on-shore 600 customer service roles, meaning all EE customer calls are answered in the UK and Ireland by the end of the year. More than 100 roles will be created in Merthyr, North Tyneside, Plymouth and Ireland by the end of June, when all EE postpaid customer calls will be handled onshore. The locations of the remaining 500 jobs, providing service for prepaid and Home customers, will be announced in the second half of 2016.
The investment in coverage will focus on filling in outdoor ‘not spots’ in current 4G areas, and expanding 4G coverage from 60 percent of the UK landmass currently to 95 percent by 2020. EE said the mobile industry needs to start measuring coverage by geography, rather than the "outdated" population score used to date.
The company highlighted its aim to go the furthest in network coverage by switching on the LTE network in Shetland and the Isles of Scilly, almost 1,000 miles apart, at opposite ends of the UK. The coverage is enabled by fibre broadband links deployed by BT. To achieve the UK-wide 4G coverage objective, more than 750 new sites will be built.
