UK 4G carrier EE holds back launch of SIM-only plans

EE, the carrier with an effective monopoly 4G LTE services in the UK until next spring, has announced that it's delaying the launch of its SIM-only 4G plans by "up to two weeks." The SIM-only deals, which were due to become available starting today, will now launch towards the end of the month.

Writing on its official Twitter account, the operator said -- 

Sorry folks – there’s been a date change for our SIM-only plans. We expect to bring them in the next 2 weeks. Stay tuned for the new date.

A statement obtained by TechCrunch seems to indicate that the testing process has overrun, resulting in the availability of SIM-only 4G being pushed back.

EE's SIM-only deals are by far the network's most cost-effective price plans. working out significantly cheaper than contracts that include a bundled smartphone. SIM-free rates start at £21 per month for 500MB moving up to  £26 for 1GB, £31 for 3GB, £36 for 5GB and £41 for 8GB.

EE -- formerly Orange and T-Mobile UK -- became the first network to launch 4G services in the UK in late October, following an Ofcom ruling that allowed it to re-farm its existing 1800MHz spectrum for use with LTE.

Source: EE, TechCrunch

Alex Dobie
Executive Editor

Alex was with Android Central for over a decade, producing written and video content for the site, and served as global Executive Editor from 2016 to 2022.