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EE to onshore all customer service calls
Mobile operator EE attempts to improve customer services by bringing call handling onshore
All UK customer service calls made to EE will be handled in the UK and Ireland by the end of 2016, as part of the mobile operator’s plan to improve customer services.
The company, now part of BT Group, will create 600 jobs in the UK and Ireland, which will include more than 100 roles in Plymouth, south Wales and North Tyneside
The locations of the remaining 500 jobs, providing service for EE Pay As You Go and Home customers, will be announced later.
“We’ve already seen a major boost in customer satisfaction by creating 1,400 services jobs here since 2014,” said Marc Allera, CEO at EE.
The improved customer service strategy includes taking 4G coverage to 95% of the UK’s landmass.
“For the average smartphone user, not-spots aren’t tolerated and 2G doesn’t deliver what they need. Customers want 4G speeds everywhere they go, and mobile operators are too used to saying ‘no’ to new coverage.
“I’m saying ‘yes’, with an ambition to go further than any operator has ever gone, and with the ultimate aim of covering the whole UK with 4G,” said Allera.
EE said more than 750 sites will be built to reach UK-wide 4G coverage. EE’s 4G coverage currently covers around 60% of UK and approximately 95% of the population.
Read more about mobile coverage
- The Welsh secretary Alun Cairns calls on the devolved government to consider allowing mobile operators to build taller masts.
- At a Westminster Hall debate, digital economy minister Ed Vaizey concedes the £150m Mobile Infrastructure Project to address not-spots was largely unsuccessful.
- Nokia launches a long term evolution radio service called FastMile, which will allow operators to boost mobile broadband services in rural areas.
When it was launched, 4G was used only for data connections and customers moved to 3G while on a call. But EE is now rolling out 4G calling across the UK for voice and data over 4G.
According to recent figures from consumer affairs watchdog Which? and wireless coverage mapper OpenSignal, mobile phone users can access 4G mobile network services 53% of the time on average.
The study collected 60,436,228 data points from 31,525 users. The data showed that EE users have the best 4G coverage in the UK, with customers accessing 4G signals 60.6% of the time. This compared with 57% on Vodafone, 56% on O2 and 39.8% on Three. For speed, Three led with an average of 18.7Mbps, followed by EE at 17.8Mbps, O2 and 12.1Mbps and Vodafone at 11.8Mbps.
