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EE's new broadband router is a 4G MiFi for the home
EE and parent company BT both offer fixed-line broadband services already, but today EE is launching a new router that uses 4G to keep the whole household connected. The "4GEE Home Router" is basically a bigger, beefier MiFi that needs no formal installation. Just plug it into a power outlet, connect your phones, tablets and PCs to it via WiFi -- up to 32 devices are supported -- and enjoy download speeds of up to 90 Mbps (actual speeds will vary, of course).
Three prepares for spectrum race with UK Broadband purchase
Three announced today that it has agreed to buy UK Broadband Limited for £250 million, making Ofcom's impending spectrum auction altogether more interesting -- as interesting as spectrum auctions can be, anyway. UK Broadband isn't a household name, given it primarily builds bespoke 4G networks for the private and public sectors. The company does run the consumer-facing brand Relish, though, which offers flexible home broadband services using 4G-fed WiFi routers. While Relish seems like a good fit for millennial-chaser Three, and creates an immediate path for the company to get into home broadband, make no mistake: Three isn't after UK Broadband's 15,000 customers, but its spectrum licence.
The company behind Relish wireless broadband makes a big loss
Relish's dream to connect London homes with wireless broadband, rather than traditional landlines, could be in trouble. UK Broadband, the company behind the service, has reported losses of £37.5 million for 2014 -- almost four times what it was the year before. To make matters worse, turnover slipped from roughly £2 million to £1.5 million over the same period. Relish was launched in June 2014 as a simpler, but capable broadband alternative to the likes of BT, Sky and Virgin Media. Instead of copper and fibre cables, the company relies on 4G connections to deliver the internet to its customers. The advantages are plentiful -- you don't need to pay for a landline, and because Relish's network is already up and running, you don't need an engineer to install anything. Once you've signed up, a router is sent round within the next working day and you can instantly get online. The concept is similar to the mobile broadband packages offered by EE, Three and other UK carriers, although here there are no restrictive data allowances. So what's gone wrong?
Relish drops the landline to offer 'fibre-fast' broadband without the hassle
UK broadband is in a state of flux. Fixed-line providers like BT and Virgin are expanding their services to deliver super-fast broadband into homes. Elsewhere, operators including EE, Vodafone and Three are cementing their mobile backbone to meet the UK public's insatiable thirst for data over the airwaves instead. A small number of companies have tried to find the middle ground, the space where broadband and mobile networks meet, but none have ultimately succeeded. A new service called Relish wants to change that, and it believes it has the credentials to win where others haven't.
