EE 4G network switched on in another 13 large towns

4G road sign

EE's 4G rollout is continuing apace across the UK, with the mobile operator announcing the arrival of the superfast network in a further 13 large towns.

This means another 300,000 people in Buckingham, Burntwood, Chesham, Chesterfield, Dalkeith, Glossop, Hertford, Rugeley, Sheerness, Thornaby-on-Tees, Ware, Wickford and Witney will now have access to 4G.

Since kicking off its 4G deployment plans in earnest nearly two years ago, EE has set about making good on its goal to provide 98 per cent of the UK with access to it by the end of 2014.

This has resulted in numerous announcements about the network being switched on in various towns and cities in the UK since then.

In the firm's recently published half-year results, the operator said it now has more than 4.2 million 4G customers in the UK.

Olaf Swantee, CEO of EE, said - now businesses and consumers have become better educated about the benefits of 4G - adoption is increasing.

"4G is now a well-known and well understood technology, with businesses and communities increasingly demanding 4G coverage because they see the significant economic benefit," he said.

"Our fast, nationwide rollout continues, with hundreds of new sites being switched on every month to bring 4G to more places, often giving people a fast broadband for the very first time."

The Prime Minister David Cameron has also commented on the news, as he's the MP for Witney, and claims the arrival of 4G in the town will benefit local companies and residents alike.

"Now the latest generation of mobile technology has arrived, Witney is now an area where it is even more attractive to live, to work and to do business," he said.

"The arrival of 4G makes this part of Oxfordshire one of the best connected areas in the UK."

Caroline Donnelly is the news and analysis editor of IT Pro and its sister site Cloud Pro, and covers general news, as well as the storage, security, public sector, cloud and Microsoft beats. Caroline has been a member of the IT Pro/Cloud Pro team since March 2012, and has previously worked as a reporter at several B2B publications, including UK channel magazine CRN, and as features writer for local weekly newspaper, The Slough and Windsor Observer. She studied Medical Biochemistry at the University of Leicester and completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Magazine Journalism at PMA Training in 2006.