Mobile Phone Technology

EE is the UK's number one mobile network, consistently achieving top rankings in surveys for high speed (40 Mbps), low latency (under 36 ms) and coverage by population (99%) and geographical area (94% in England, 89% in Northern Ireland, 77% in Scotland and 86% in Wales).

EE was formed through the merger of the T-Mobile and Orange mobile networks. Both T-Mobile and Orange started out as 2G brands when Ofcom sought to increase the number of mobile operators from two to four, and both gained 3G licences in 2000. In 2010, they merged to form Everything Everywhere, although they retained their original names. In 2012, Everything Everywhere launched its 4G network under the EE brand. BT purchased EE in 2015. BT used the EE name for their 4G operations and later changed all their BT Mobile operations to EE.

EE was the first company to run 4G using the spare capacity obtained from the merger of T-Mobile and Orange at 1800 MHz. They also purchased additional frequencies in the auction to run 4G. EE now offers 4G coverage to 99% of the UK population.

EE was the first company to launch 5G on its network on 30 May 2019 in selected areas of major UK cities, including London, Edinburgh, Birmingham, Manchester, Cardiff and Belfast. Their 5G offering is now available to over 99% of the UK population (as of 31 December 2025). They use the 700 MHz and 3.4/3.6 GHz bands. EE was previously embroiled in the debate surrounding Chinese suppliers in the 5G network, which resulted in the removal of Huawei equipment from their network at great expense.

EE is owned by BT, which previously owned some mobile phone bandwidth itself. As part of the merger agreement to create EE, BT had to release some of their bandwidth to competitors, most notably Three.

EE, or more accurately BT, has a significant presence in the digital communications market, offering broadband and trunk networks, as well as a mobile network. BT also has its own media operations, including TV, sports and film. This gives BT a dominant position in this integrated market, raising fears of a near-monopoly. The 'last-mile' operation of Openreach has already been split off from BT, but is still owned by the company.

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