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The products or services listed have been independently tested by our journalists. We earn a commission from the affiliate links in this article. Read more >
EE is one of only three mobile networks left in the UK and is part of the BT empire. As such, it has a range of services, including broadband and TV, so there could be a good deal waiting for you if you’re already a BT or EE customer (BT ditched its own mobile service in favour of EE a couple of years ago).
EE’s standalone tariffs aren’t hugely competitive on price, with rivals such as Tesco Mobile or Lebara offering more data for less. However, EE does offer some interesting bundle deals that might appeal, including extras such as Netflix or Apple Music as part of the subscription.
Perusing the mobile plans on offer from EE is a complicated business. Some tariffs might reduce the amount of data you’re permitted after six months, as well as potentially limiting the speeds. Roaming and other benefits also vary, so it is definitely a matter of reading the small print carefully before you sign up.
We surveyed 1,022 Telegraph readers across the UK* to find out who provided their mobile network and what they thought about the service. Readers provided their verdicts for the three master brands (EE, O2 and VodafoneThree), as well as virtual networks (MVNOs): Tesco Mobile, Lebara, Sky Mobile, BT Mobile and Giffgaff.
We excluded any provider used by fewer than 20 per cent of our readers. In addition, we categorised providers with an average rating of three stars or lower as “below average”.
As well as speed, reliability, value for money and ease of contact, we asked our readers how helpful their providers were once they got through to them, as well as their experiences using data roaming while abroad.
Score: 3/5
EE didn’t score brilliantly for value in our reader survey. Seven out of ten customers were satisfied with the value on offer, which sounds reasonable, but only Vodafone posted worse scores than this.
Certainly, if you’re looking for the cheapest possible deal, EE isn’t your network. The cheapest I could find at the time of writing was £9 per month, which was double the cheapest tariff from Lebara, albeit with four times as much data.
The best mobile deals will be on offer to those who already take other EE services. These so-called ‘EE One’ benefits can unlock unlimited mobile data deals or money off new plans.
EE also offers ‘Unlimited All Rounder’ packages, which not only remove the speed caps that are imposed on some tariffs (see below), but also include extras such as roaming, priority coverage in busy areas and Netflix, Apple TV, Apple Music or other subscriptions. At £33 per month, these are pretty good value.
Score: 3.5/5
The EE customers we asked were generally happy with the speed, with a 77 per cent satisfaction score. The problem is that not every customer will get the fastest speeds.
EE’s pay-as-you-go SIMs, which are by far the cheapest they offer, are locked to a maximum download speed of 25Mbits/sec, which is only a fraction of what the latest 5G networks are capable of delivering. So-called ‘No Frills’ packages (which cost a princely £22 per month for 5GB of data) are capped at only 10Mbits/sec. Other monthly packages are limited to 100Mbits/sec.
In short, check the terms carefully before you sign up for an EE SIM to make sure you’re getting the speed you want.
Score: 4/5
The reliability of the EE network is sound. A solid 82 per cent satisfaction score is admittedly near the bottom of the table, but most networks hovered in the low-to-mid eighties. Customers of the now-defunct BT Mobile, which also uses EE, gave the same reliability score.
Score: 3/5
Customer service could definitely do with some polish, according to our survey. Only 63 per cent of customers were impressed with how easy it is to reach the support team, and only 63 per cent were satisfied with the quality of the support. The school report would read: “could do better”.
Score: 2.5/5
Roaming is only included with selected EE tariffs. If it’s not bundled into your deal, you’ll need to pay for roaming passes to use your data/minutes/text allowance when abroad. For EU countries, the cost is £2.59 per day or £15 for a week and India, for example, it’s £25 for seven days. Oddly, you can only buy these roaming passes when you arrive at your foreign destination, which is an unwanted hassle.
Consequently, it’s no great surprise there’s not much love for EE’s roaming rates among the customers we surveyed, with only 55 per cent satisfied. That was the worst score of any network in our survey.
(Note: this is just a sample of the SIM-only deals available from EE)
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