Some customers will break the one gigabit per second milestone on their 5G smartphones
The UK now has 5G as mobile operator, EE, part of BT Sport, has launched its latest network across six cities in Britain: London, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Belfast, Birmingham and Manchester.
5G is built on top of EE’s 4G network; customers will connect to both 4G and 5G at the same time to get the best possible experience, even in the most crowded areas.
The mobile operator expects customers to experience an increase in speeds of around 100Mbps to 150Mbps even in the busiest areas. Some customers will break the one gigabit per second milestone on their 5G smartphones. In comparison, the fastest speed possible when EE launched 4G in 2012 was just 50Mbps.
In addition to the six launch cities, in 2019 EE will also be introducing 5G across the busiest parts of Bristol, Coventry, Glasgow, Hull, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield. And in 2020, ten more towns and cities will get 5G sites: Aberdeen, Bournemouth, Brighton, Cambridge, Dundee, Exeter, Ipswich, Norwich, Plymouth and York.
EE outlined its plans on 29 May before a concert by grime-scene legend, Stormzy, in front of Tower Bridge in London. Fans in attendance and those tuning in online saw history in the making as the Glastonbury 2019 headliner’s performance became the first event of its kind to be live streamed over EE’s new 5G network, which was hosted by Radio DJ, Clara Amfo.
Using the latest 5G and remote production technology, EE broadcast the event on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to thousands of fans across the UK, while fans in each of the other five launch cities were treated to the best seat in the house via a 360 degree virtual reality (VR) experience.
It is the mobile operator’s ambition to offer choice with the best content, smartest devices, and the latest technology, through best in class partnerships. As part of this, EE is partnering with some of the world’s leading manufacturers to offer the UK’s largest range of 5G smartphones.
Now consumers and businesses can order the new devices, including smartphones from Samsung, OnePlus, LG, Oppo and Huawei, a mobile broadband device from HTC, and a 5G home broadband router from Huawei.
EE has launched new 5G plans with Swappable Benefits for customers. All 5G customers will get two Swappables from a choice of five, including the BT Sport App HD HDR access for the best possible video quality, Gamer’s Data Pass, Music Data Pass, EE Video Data Pass, and Roam Further Pass, which they can swap in or out anytime they want. Customers taking the 120GB plan will get three Swappables, worth up to £33.99 per month.
