It has 7.7 million 4G users which is more than  O2, Three and Vodafone  combined and probably explains why  BT agreed a £12.5billion deal to buy EE last month.

EE 'switched on' more than 200 cities and towns during the final three months of 2014, making 4G available to areas including Crewe, Bognor Regis, Hastings, Rugby, Stratford-Upon-Avon and Worcester. This means 4GEE is now available to 510 areas with a population of over 10,000.

Its efforts to get people to sign up seem to have paid off as 1.7 million customers signed up to EE 4G in November and December.

EE's 4G coverage across the UK now stands at more than 80 per cent and is on course to hit 98 per cent by the end of 2015, a whole year ahead of the deadline to hit that target set by communications regulator Ofcom.

The second largest 4G network, Three, currently has 3.1 million customers and only 48 per cent coverage. O2 has three million 4G customers and 45  per cent  coverage, while Vodafone has 1.4 million 4G customers and 48 per cent coverage.