Three UK to invest £100m to enhance connectivity across 250 UK towns and cities

• Three UK expected to deliver the UK’s fastest 5G network
• The investment will significantly enhance Three UK’s 4G service
• Marks the start of the second phase of unbundling BT exchanges, totalling 450 across the UK by the middle of next year

Three UK has entered into a £100m infrastructure investment agreement with SSE Enterprise Telecoms to enhance connectivity and deliver the UK’s fastest 5G network across hundreds of towns and cities. The investment will also enhance Three UK’s 4G service, providing increased capacity and reliability to meet rising demand for data.

In addition, as part of the second phase of the network rollout, SSE Enterprise Telecoms will deliver over 450 unbundled BT Exchanges across the UK. The associated fibre connectivity will be linked into Three UK’s network.

This will mean SSE Enterprise Telecoms’ fibre network, which currently stretches across 20,000 km, will reach over 30,000 km, providing a unique high capacity and resilient network for all of Three UK’s customers.

This announcement is part of a wider series of partnerships Three UK has entered with digital infrastructure platforms to help enable 5G and enhance Three UK’s existing 4G service.

Susan Buttsworth, Chief Operating Officer, Three UK said:

“We are investing significantly to transform our entire network experience which will support our customers who use three times more data than the average UK consumer. SSE Enterprise Telecoms will help support our goal of delivering a great 4G and 5G experience across the UK.”

David Molony, Principal Analyst, Omdia Principle Analyst, said: “Omdia knows that co-innovation between service providers and enterprises – as well as between enterprises – will be one of the keys to success with 5G and edge computing. This deal is a prime example of the kind of co-investment needed for high capacity 5G infrastructure and goes some way to put the UK on the map”.

Sarah Mills, Sector Director for Network Operators, SSE Enterprise Telecoms said:

“We are proud to be supporting the industry’s most competitive network for 5G in terms of bandwidth, speed and reliability. This will allow Three UK to meet the future demands that we know are coming from businesses and consumers. Our continued close collaboration with Three UK has enabled both parties to focus on optimising the design and network for 4G and 5G services. Our next phase is our most pervasive yet. Our vision to support UK innovation is anchored in 5G and edge computing, which feeds our larger strategic purpose. And we’re just getting started”.

-ENDS-

Media Contacts:

Three UK Press Office
Tel: + 44 7454 959 715
Email: three@headlandconsultancy.com

About Three UK

Three launched in 2003 as the UK’s first 3G only network, laying its foundations as the network that was born to be different. Today Three is a connectivity company that connects people to people, people to things and things to things and has more than 10 million customers.

An average Three customer uses 3.5 times more mobile data than the industry average and its network today covers 99% of the UK population. It has the highest Net Promoter Score (NPS) of any of the mobile network operators at +19, alongside +24 for its Employee NPS.

Three also has the UK’s leading 5G spectrum holdings with more than the rest of the industry combined. Three is the only operator able to meet the International Telecoms Union (ITU) 2020 standard for full 5G services.

Three is currently the official shirt sponsor of Chelsea FC, including providing a 5G service at Stamford Bridge.

Three was voted the Best Network for Data at the Mobile Choice Consumer Awards, as well as Best Network for Roaming by uSwitch, and the Best High Street Retailer at the Mobile Industry Awards.

Three UK is part of the CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd group of companies which has mobile operations in 11 countries. We employ more than 4,800 people across our offices in Maidenhead, Glasgow and Reading and our 326 retail stores.

About SSE Enterprise Telecoms

SSE Enterprise Telecoms provides class-leading connectivity and data centre services that deliver very high performance, cost efficiency and a competitive edge. The company operates a 20,000+km private telecoms network and an estate of 90 commercial data centres that span the UK. With its extensive telecoms and data centre operational expertise it offers commercial security with unrivalled in-house design and engineering resource.