EE UK enhances mobile broadband in London area

Mobile operator EE recently moved to upgrade its data capacity and network coverage for businesses, homeowners and visitors to Wimbledon, the London village synonymous with tennis.

The rollout involved updates to 17 existing 5G and 4G mobile broadband sites, along with the deployment of all-new small cells to enhance coverage in the London location’s busiest areas.

Unlike larger base stations and masts, the small cell equipment is designed to only provide limited coverage across a shorter distance. As a result, they tend to be focused more on busy areas like shopping hubs and specific sites involved in transportation like harbours and airports.

The mobile provider has worked closely alongside its strategic supplier Nokia to roll out the solutions. The supplier is using its licenced 2600Mhz and 1800MHz spectrum to offer greater capacity and faster mobile broadband speeds, which have been recorded at up to 300Mbps. While the initiative will benefit commercial and industrial operations in the area, it is also engineered to cope with the greater visitor traffic currently expected for the yearly Wimbledon Championships, scheduled for July 3 to 16.

Chief Networks Officer Greg McCall commented:

“We’re delighted to be working with Nokia to bring enhanced 4G mobile capacity to Wimbledon. With over half a million visitors expected over the course of two weeks in July, our new small cell deployments will alleviate congestion.”

Small cell equipment is typically affixed to the side of buildings or permanent fixtures on streets like kiosks, lampposts, and closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera columns.