EE Creates £10 Mobile Phone Package Specifically For Deaf People

EE, the UK’s largest mobile operator, is teaming up with the UK’s leading hearing loss charity, Action on Hearing Loss, to provide mobile plans and the UK’s best customer service to those who are deaf or have hearing loss.

Currently, over 11 million people (one in every six) are living with some form of hearing loss, and as many of these people prefer visual forms of communication such as SMS and video calls, over traditional voice services, EE has provided mobile plans that reflect this.

EE has worked closely with AoHL to offer services that better align with how customers with hearing loss prefer to communicate. The £10 Data Pack available through Action on Hearing Loss provides customers with 2GB data and unlimited texts every 30 days, and will be offered alongside devices with range of accessibility features, from the likes of Doro and PowerTel. Customers will also enjoy all the other benefits that come with EE’s pay as you go packs, such as a 500MB Free Data Boost every three months and data rollover.

To offer the best service in the UK to customers living with hearing loss, EE also worked with Action on Hearing Loss to conduct a thorough assessment of its call centres and develop best practices for supporting customers with hearing loss. These include the use of the Next Generation Text (NGT) text relay service, and a sign language Interpreting service for British Sign Language users.

Customers who inform EE of a disability can receive additional support from EE’s dedicated Customer Disability Team, who have received specialist training to help them deal with a wide range of customer disabilities. EE was also the first network to launch Enhanced High Definition Voice, which allows anyone with a compatible device to enjoy improved sound quality during phone calls.

Edward Goff, marketing director, mobile at EE said: “Our collaboration with Action on Hearing Loss helps us to provide a great experience for our customers, and helps to improve their lives through the latest mobile and network technology. Smartphones can be transformative for anyone with hearing loss and we will continue to work closely with Action on Hearing Loss to provide the best, most personal support for our customers.”

James Rowe, technology and enterprise executive director at Action on Hearing Loss said: “We are very pleased to be partnering with EE as they provide some of the best support for the one-in-six people in the UK who are living with deafness or hearing loss. It is very encouraging to see a company like EE proactively taking steps to make sure that their customers living with deafness and hearing loss are not being financially disadvantaged and are able to access phone packages that are better suited to their needs.

“We have been working very closely with EE and their excellent Customer Disability Team for the past few months and look forward to further developing our partnership so that people with deafness and hearing loss can continue to benefit from all the latest mobile and assistive technology.”

To see the full range of pay as you go packs and mobile phones available to customers, including hearing aid compatible models and accessible devices, customers can visit the Action on Hearing Loss shop online (www.actionhearingloss.org.uk/shop). Additional information can also be found on the EE website (ee.co.uk).