More customers in more locations around the UK are receiving the ultimate mobile speed boost – getting fibre broadband-like speeds mainlined into their pocket.
EE first announced its 5G upgrade back in May 2019. When it launched, the UK network offered 5G in just six cities, but things are improving at a rapid rate.
This signal has been switched-on in more places throughout the year and now EE has revealed another 14 areas that can access the new speeds.
From today, EE 5G rollout arrives in 14 new cities and towns across the UK including Liverpool, Glasgow, Guildford, Maidstone, Watford and Wolverhampton.
Speaking about the update, BT consumer division CEO Marc Allera said: “Switching on 5G in more places is helping us deliver the best mobile experience to our customers, keeping them connected to the things that matter most.
“RootMetrics’ early 5G testing shows that we are a long way ahead in terms of 5G performance, and our engineers are continuing to build new sites every day, on our journey to keeping our customers connected 100% of the time.”
EE says it now has 5G in more places in the UK than other networks, and is targeting 5G connectivity in 45 cities and large towns by the end of the year.
Customers can enjoy 5G in the following cities and large towns today:
CITIES – London • Edinburgh • Birmingham • Belfast • Manchester • Cardiff • Bristol • Coventry • Leicester • Liverpool • Glasgow • Huddersfield
TOWNS – Ashton-under-Lyne • Castlereigh • Chatham • Clifton • Dudley • Gillingham • Grays • Guildford • Hamilton • Harlow • Hoddesdon • Kimberley • Kingston-upon-Thames • Lichfield • Lisburn • Maidstone • Milnrow • Oldham • Potters Bar • Rochdale • Romford • Salford • Solihull • Sutton Coldfield • Sydenham • Walsall • Watford • West Bromwich • Wolverhampton
Along with this update to its 5G coverage, it’s also been revealed that EE currently has the broadest 5G network. Independent testing from RootMetrics confirms EE has the highest 5G availability in London, Birmingham and Cardiff.
According to the latest 5G testing by RootMetrics, in London, Birmingham and Cardiff, EE’s 5G network achieved the highest average download speed and 5G availability. RootMetrics’ ‘availability’ measure shows how often devices connected to 5G during download testing across each city.
5G availability in London – 60.6% vs Vodafone’s 21.7%
5G availability in Cardiff – 43.4% vs Vodafone’s 14%
5G availability in Birmingham – 51.6% vs Vodafone’s 10.8%
EE is not only the firm that has switched on 5G with Vodafone, Three and O2 all now joining the party.
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’re 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.