EE has already launched its 5G network and Vodafone customers will get access to these faster speeds next month – now Three has announced its plans to join this speedy revolution.
The UK firm has just announced that its customers will be able to take advantage of 5G from August 2019.
Three says that it will begin its rollout with London getting a 5G home broadband service first.
This will then be followed by both mobile and home broadband offerings in 25 towns and cities across the UK before the end of the year.
Along with launching this new service, Three is also boasting that it has more than twice as much 5G spectrum as its closest competitor which, it says, will deliver significantly faster speeds for its customers.
There’s also another big claim from Three with the network confident that it will deliver the fastest 5G network in the UK due to its investment in high capacity smart antennas.
Three’s 5G home broadband customers will also benefit from the simplicity of plugging a hub into the wall to immediately become connected, without lengthy engineer wait times or a long-term contract.
This ‘plug and play’ 5G service is set to offer comparable speeds to fibre while offering more flexibility and better value for money.
Along with those new 5G speeds, Three also says that it is investing in its 4G network as well which is expected to deliver up to 400 per cent improvements in speed and capacity.
Speaking about the update, Dave Dyson, CEO at Three, said: “It’s clear that consumers and businesses want more and more data.
“We have the UK’s best network for data and we have led the market on customer usage on both 3G and 4G technologies.
“We have worked hard over a long period of time to be able to offer the best end to end 5G experience. 5G is a game changer for Three, and of course I am excited that we will be the only operator in the UK who can offer true 5G.”
Three will be announcing more detail around handset range and pricing in July and here’s the full list of cities which Three will begin rolling out 5G.
London • Birmingham • Bolton • Bradford • Brighton • Bristol • Cardiff • Coventry • Derby • Edinburgh • Glasgow • Hull • Leeds • Leicester Liverpool Manchester Middlesbrough • Milton Keynes • Nottingham • Reading • Rotherham • Sheffield • Slough Sunderland • Wolverhampton
HOW MUCH FASTER WILL IT ACTUALLY BE?
Depending on where you are in the country it’s possible to get an average 4G speed of around 20-30Mbps.
That’s as fast as most fixed-line broadband and would allow you to download an HD movie in around 20 minutes.
If you are very lucky, it is possible to get 4G speeds of around 400Mbps although this isn’t something many consumers will have ever experienced.
5G takes things to a new level with average speeds expected to exceed 100Mbps.
It’s also very likely that some users will experience speeds nearing 1Gbps with an HD movie downloading in under 40 seconds.
On a recent test Express.co.uk managed to see speeds of over £300Mbps.
WILL MY CURRENT PHONE WORK WITH 5G?
The simple answer is no.
There’s very few 5G compatible smartphones available right now so it’s likely you’ll have to upgrade your device before you can gain access to this fast technology.