EE is now able to offer its customers 4G services in some areas. However, this is going to be at a price and the question has to be asked: Is it worth it? 4G promises speeds that are up to six times faster than the usual speeds you get with 3G but it can cost up to £56 per month on pay monthly phone deals, which is a little steep for the average user.

However, if you like to download music and video you will find the increased speeds of benefit while you are on the go. Those who have the larger data allowances will be able to take advantage of streaming services for music and TV which traditionally use up the data allowance very quickly.

What Do 4G Plans Include

EE states that the plans which include 4G have been formulated to offer what customers need although the starting plans only offer 500MB of data each month. If you want to get up to 3GB of data usage each month the price increases and there are also plans which include 5GB and 8GB of data.

It should also be noted that opting for one of these plans means that you will not qualify for a free phone and will need to pay something towards it. Opting for a cheaper plan means that you will be expected to pay more for the phone.

In some cases you may be able to upgrade your current phone and contract to one which includes 4G but this will only apply to certain customers so it is recommended that you speak to the provider first.

SIM Only Deals

However, if you are already in possession of a handset which is 4G-ready you can go for a SIM-only deal, starting from £21 per month and going up to £46, which is a good saving but still quite an expensive commitment each month.

Anyone who is not a heavy data user will find that there is very little difference for them with a 4G phone so in this case it is definitely not worth paying any more. Even the smaller contracts do not give enough data usage to make it worthwhile and here you are simply paying for speed.

Wait a While

If you are prepared to wait a while then you will find that there are savings to be made. 4G contracts are fairly new and like anything else when it has just come out, it is priced high to begin with. As it is only available in a limited way at the moment the lack of competition will also be helping to keep the cost high. It is recommended that most users wait until other networks have 4G services as the prices are more likely to become competitive at that point.

At the present time there are no savings to be made with 4G so unless you are desperate for 4G services it is recommended that you wait and see what 2013 brings as it is likely that cost and choice will be far wider as the year goes on.

About the Author:

Phil Turner was planning to buy a phone, but when he looked into pay monthly phone deals they worked out a lot cheaper than buying a phone and then adding on a SIM-only deal.