Network operator EE Mobile is preparing to launch a new “Full Works Plus” airtime plan in the near future (probably the next month or so), which will cost £5 extra per month than their regular “Full Works” plan and introduce enhanced 5G+ (5G Standalone) mobile broadband network slicing via a new ‘Fast Lane‘ feature. But there’s a big caveat.

Just for some context. EE already includes a ‘Network Boost‘ feature on all of their Full Works (and All-Rounder) mobile plans, which gives customers mobile data priority queuing at congested cell towers in crowded places, such as stadiums, busy shopping centres and train stations etc. (note: there’s no prioritisation of calls or texts). But this is more of a traditional Quality-of-Service (QoS) traffic prioritisation mechanism.

NOTE: Network slicing is usually an optional 5G+ feature that allows for multiple virtual network slices across the same physical network. Each slice is isolated from other network traffic to give dedicated performance, with the features of the slice tailored to the use case requirements (online gaming, enhanced mobile broadband etc.).

According to ISPreview’s sources, the new Fast Lane feature that will accompany EE’s future Full Works Plus plan will only work on their 5G Standalone (5G+) network with a compatible Smartphone and is expected to promote itself as offering customers 5x more network priority (we assume this is when compared with the ‘Network Boost’ feature on Full Works and All-Rounder).

The details have yet to be officially confirmed, but we understand that this will go beyond the standard QoS approach of EE’s ‘Network Boost’ feature and will instead harness Network Slicing technology on their 5G+ network. This would make it much more powerful than regular QoS prioritisation, although making such things attractive to consumers can be quite difficult from a marketing perspective (slicing is not as easy to promote or compare as raw data speeds etc.).

We should point out that Full Works Plus will also include the same Network Boost feature as Full Works, which is probably there to help provide some backwards compatibility benefits to users on regular 5G (not 5G+) and 4G connections.

Features like this might potentially conflict with Ofcom’s 2023 Net Neutrality Guidelines, which more broadly reflects the principle of treating all internet traffic as equal. But one caveat of EE’s new mobile plan means they’re likely to sidestep such concerns.

In short, EE Mobile will only offer Full Works Plus alongside their Flex Pay or subsidised handset deals / bundles (i.e. NOT as a SIM-Only plan). This will likely limit its take-up and thus avoid raising any concerns. In fairness, Ofcom’s guidelines do actually allow for such features, but there may still be a bit of a grey area when it comes to how widely network slicing can actually be applied (as recently highlighted by Virgin Media and O2 – here).

In practice, it’s of course tricky to accurately compare the before an after impact of 5G Network Slicing in a busy area, due to the high variability of mobile connectivity. But no doubt EE’s aim will still be to deliver a good baseline performance for all in such busy areas, you’ll just get the best performance on Full Works and Full Works Plus plans.

Finally, we understand that EE are working with device manufacturers to ensure that more Smartphones show a “5G+” icon when connected to their latest 5G Standalone network. The improvements on this front should start showing up toward the end of this month and into September 2026. Lest we forget that the next release of Apple’s iOS v27 software is also due out in September, which includes a similar enhancement.