It's been a long time since we've expected, but 5G has finally landed in the UK, with the first network going live and the first wave of 5G phones hitting stores. This is good news because 5G could turn out to be a revolutionary technology. At the very least, any process that involves data will be much faster. This will allow you to download large apps in seconds, stream 4K content without buffering, and instantly load websites. But it is also expected to reduce latency, which will be a major asset for online gamers, as well as increase capacity. As a result, being in a stadium or city center full of other 5G users will not create network congestion. Even if it's just the beginning, 5G could transform the industry, spur the Internet of Things (IoT), and much more. Therefore, we are ready to make a real change in the mobile environment and beyond. However, although we are about to launch 5G services on the networks, we are not there yet. Below you'll find everything we know about the 5G rollout plans for the UK's four main networks, but we'll also take a look at what they're up to in the meantime, including their many 5G trials.
EE will present 5G at the Glastonbury Festival. (Image credit: EE)
EE
EE was the first network to launch a 5G network in the UK, and at the time of writing, the only one to have done so. It initially targets a small number of cities, including the London, Belfast, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Manchester and Birmingham areas, while the Bristol, Coventry, Glasgow, Hull, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield areas . Apparently 39 will get. later in 2019. EE has done several tests of 5G to get this far. He was responsible for the UK's first 5G testnet, which he had activated in Canary Wharf at the end of 2018. He quickly rolled out the trial to nine 5G sites in London. This has been EA's main test for 5G so far, but it has also spawned smaller tests, such as demoing the first 5G livestream and in the future, EE plans to bring 5G to Glastonbury Festival this year, thus offering festival-goers an early opportunity to experience the technology at the event in late June.
Vodafone
Vodafone has revealed more details about its plans to launch 5G than any other network so far, indicating that 5G will go live on July 3. It will also be a major launch, with 5G expected to hit Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Glasgow, Manchester, Liverpool and London from day one, even if we don't expect immediate city-wide coverage. After that, it plans to bring 5G to Birkenhead, Blackpool, Bournemouth, Guildford, Newbury, Portsmouth, Plymouth, Reading, Southampton, Stoke-on-Trent, Warrington and Wolverhampton later in 2019, and it's confirmed that it won't charge more for 5G than for 4G. However, the road has been a long time coming here. Vodafone has conducted numerous 5G trials, including major trials in the seven cities where it plans to launch 5G. These tests went live at the end of 2018 and Vodafone said at the time that they were "the most comprehensive" to date. These trials, which started with MediaCity UK in Salford, Greater Manchester, were mostly open to Vodafone and other companies. But the public was able to participate in some parts of the tests, such as in February 2019 when Vodafone turned on 5G technology at Manchester Airport, allowing the public to connect to it as a Wi-Fi network, avoiding the need for a 5G. phone. And it is perhaps not surprising that Vodafone appears to be the first UK carrier to have a full and active 5G network, as it has also been behind a number of other 5G firsts, such as the UK's first network to test the 3,4 GHz technology. Spectrum (to be used for 5G) and the world's first company to connect smartphones to a 5G network.
Three's 5G network will land in 2019. (Image credit: Three)
Cuban Tres Guitar
Three is behind EE and Vodafone, both for a 5G launch date and for 5G trials, but maybe not by much. The network said in April 2019 that it was on track to launch 5G in the second half of the year, but that it hasn't been more precise than this, and that it hasn't specified where 5G will launch initially, likely suggesting it won't. will land as soon as some rivals. It seems likely that London will be one of the first places to get one, especially as Three has 5G testbeds on Oxford Street and Central St Martins, the latter of which was used during London Fashion Week. ". The world's first 5G mixed reality parade. It has also put another world first to the test, in the form of a cloud-based 5G backbone network, designed to make it easier and faster to deploy new services, as part of an investment in infrastructure worth €2 billion 5G readiness
O2 brought 5G to the O2 arena. (Image credit: O2)