With the UK’s 4G LTE auction for licenses in the 800MHz and 2.6GHz spectrum bands underway, mobile operator Three has surprised its rivals by promising to offer customers the next gen service for free.
The smallest operator in the UK currently, Three caught a lucky break last year when Ofcom ordered rival operator EE to sell 2x15MHz of its 1800MHz spectrum to it as a condition of regulatory approval for the Orange-T-Mobile merger that formed the company.
EE has so far maintained a monopoly on 4G LTE services in the UK. When it launched its price plans in October 2012, it received criticism from customers who were not keen on paying for high tariffs in order to get very small data allowances.
EE reduced its prices last month – a 1GB data allowance starts with a £41 contract, rising to £56 a month for an 8GB data allowance, the most expensive mobile contract currently in the UK.
However, Three has decided to go much further.
“Unlike some other UK mobile operators, [4G LTE] will be available across all existing and new price plans without customers needing to pay a premium fee to upgrade,” the company said.
Any customer on the network will be upgraded to 4G LTE when it’s rolled out later this year, “without paying a premium or needing to swap SIM cards or price plans” it added.
In a statement, Three UK’s CEO Dave Dyson commented: “As we add the next wave of technology to our ultrafast network, we’ve listened to our customers and thought long and hard about the right way to do it.
“We don’t want to limit ultrafast services to a select few based on a premium price and we’ve decided our customers will get this service as standard.”