EE on Friday revealed that its 4G customer base reached 7.7 million at the end of 2014, comfortably exceeding its target of 6 million.
The U.K. mobile operator added 5.7 million 4G subscribers in the 12 months to 31 December; more than any other operator in Europe, it claimed. According to EE’s most recent quarterly report, the company had 24.5 million mobile customers in total at the end of September.
EE said it also extended LTE network coverage to a further 350 cities and towns last year, with more than 200 added in Q4 alone, taking the total to 510. Meanwhile, the number of villages covered by its 4G network reached 3,894. The smallest place connected is Elvanfoot in South Lanarkshire, Scotland – a village boasting just 52 residents.
"4G from EE now covers more than 80% of the population and is on target to reach 98% by the end of 2015," said EE, in a statement.
In addition, EE saw a six-fold increase in 4G data traffic in 2014. "Traffic was driven by customers sharing selfies and videos on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, and streaming video from the likes of BBC iPlayer, YouTube and Sky Go," the company said.
2015 is already shaping up to be the most important year in EE’s brief history.
In mid-December, its parent companies Orange and Deutsche Telekom entered into exclusive talks to sell EE to incumbent BT in a deal worth £12.5 billion.
If it goes ahead, the merger will combine the country’s largest fixed-line operator with the country’s largest mobile operator by subscribers, which is expected to trigger a wave of consolidation in the U.K. telecoms sector.
