Three has just sped up its 4G network in a number of locations, as it has upgraded over 2,700 sites, improving average data speeds by between 15% and 33%.
The upgrade work has been focused on sites in cities with high data demands, such as London, Birmingham, Cardiff, Edinburgh and Glasgow, so you’ll get a faster and more reliable experience even when there’s congestion.
The upgrade essentially gives you 4G+ (and will be labelled as such on phones). It works by using carrier aggregation to combine multiple 4G spectrum bands, rather than just using a single band at any given time.
To take full advantage of this you’ll need a device that supports carrier aggregation, and Three claims that roughly 50% of the devices on its network do – if you’re in an area with 4G+ and your phone supports it, that’s when you’ll see the ‘4G+’ text in your notification bar.
But even if your phone doesn’t support full 4G+ you should still get a better experience, as these upgrades should free up capacity across the whole network.
That’s a good thing too, as Three customers currently use 3.5 times more mobile data than customers of other networks on average, according to CCS Insight, and the actual amount of data consumed is only going to grow, as the same report points to an average data use of 18GB per month by 2021.
It’s not clear whether Three will continue to grow its 4G+ coverage, but whether or not it does you can expect major upgrades to the whole network before too long, as by 2020 we’re likely to start seeing 5G rolling out on Three.
And already the network has near comprehensive coverage with standard 4G, with over 99% of the UK population currently covered, plus free roaming available in an ever-growing number of international destinations.
