Black Cabs in London and Birmingham Get Free 4G Thanks to EE

Everything Everywhere Ltd. (EE) is a mobile network operator and Internet service provider. Its headquarters are in Hatfield, UK and its England’s largest mobile network operator. In October 2012, EE turned the switch on for 4G services in the UK. At that time EE said that it would expand the network coverage by 2,000 square miles every month. EE plans to add more cities and some rural locations this year. Their goal is to have about 98 percent of the population by the end of 2014.

EE has announced that it was going to put LTE connectivity on the move. The announcement says that EE is supplying 50 of UK’s iconic black taxi cabs (also known as Hackney Carriages) with 4G networking. The cabs will be driving through the streets of London and Birmingham and they have been dubbed “4GEE Taxis.”

When you think old London cabs, you do think of the very roomy black (emphasis on the black) cars. Here’s a twist however, the 50 cabs that will be rolling out and about will be aqua colored, not black.

Here is another interesting fact. The cabs that are driving around London and Birmingham as of today are offering their passengers FREE access to EE’s 4GEE network. The cabs each have a state of the art MiFi router which acts as a mobile 4G hotspot. The way I understand it, passengers will be given a free trial of the 4GEE service after they send a text and they will receive a personalized code to connect to the network.

Spencer McHugh, director of Brand for EE said, “The first motorized black cabs hit the streets in 1901, nearly 70 years before the first smartphone was available to consumers, now we are bringing this icon of British transport into the 21^st century with a4G make over. We hope this trial will demonstrate the benefits of a superior online experience as users can browse, download, catch up on emails, tweet and check Facebook literally at the speed of light. We can’t make taxi journeys any faster, but we can certainly speed up people’s smartphones.”

Think of the possibilities. Not only will you be able to check you messages or post on Facebook or Tweet that you are do so from a London cab, but you will also be able to order food and meet the delivery guy as you are getting out of the cab.

The 4GEE Taxis will be driving through London and Birmingham for three months. After that it is expected that rival mobile networks will be rolling out their own LTE networks.