U.K. carrier EE, part of telecom group BT, announced it has switched on 5G technology in 14 new cities and towns across the U.K.
EE has added 5G to Castlereagh, Guildford, Hamilton, Harlow, Hoddesdon, Kimberley, Lisburn, Maidstone, Sydenham, Watford and Wolverhampton, and has switched on its first 5G sites in Liverpool, Glasgow and Huddersfield. EE also said that 5G technology is now available in additional locations including Bristol Parkway station, Cardiff Castle, and London’s Carnaby Street and Camden Market
The telco had initially launched 5G in May this year with coverage in London, Edinburgh, Belfast, Cardiff, Birmingham and Manchester.
In London, EE’s 5G coverage currently reaches more than 60%, the carrier said.
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, EE 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,” said Marc Allera, CEO of BT’s consumer division. “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 also said it expects to provide 5G connectivity in 45 cities and large towns by the end of the year.
The telco will also be introducing 5G across the busiest parts of Bristol, Coventry, Glasgow, Hull, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield during the rest of the year. In 2020, Aberdeen, Bournemouth, Brighton, Cambridge, Dundee, Exeter, Ipswich, Norwich, Plymouth and York will receive 5G coverage, EE said.
EE said that the commercial launch is the first phase of the telco’s 5G rollout: a Non-standalone 5G New Radio deployment focused on using the combined power of 4G and 5G technologies. Phase 2, from 2022, will introduce the full 5G core network, enhanced device chipset capabilities, and increased availability of 5G-ready spectrum.
EE said that higher bandwidth and lower latency, coupled with expansive and growing 5G coverage, will enable a more responsive network, enabling immersive mobile augmented reality, real-time health monitoring, and mobile cloud gaming.
A third phase, beginning in 2023, will introduce Ultra-Reliable Low Latency Communications (URLLC), network slicing and multi-gigabit-per-second speeds. This phase of 5G will enable critical applications like real-time traffic management of fleets of autonomous vehicles and massive sensor networks.
