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These 16 UK cities will be the first to get 5G thanks to EE
July 27, 2025
U.K. mobile networkEEhas confirmed that 16 U.K. cities will be able to enjoy blisteringly fast5Gdata speeds by the end of 2019.
The BT Group-owned company will initially flip the 5G switch in six cities — London, Manchester, Edinburgh, Belfast, Cardiff, and Birmingham — followed by a further 10 later in the year.
EE explained in a press release that the launch cities were chosen due to their proximity to highly populated areas and commercial hotspots. These include London’s Hyde Park, Birmingham’s Bullring shopping center, and key airports and train stations.
The remaining ten cities are Glasgow, Newcastle, Liverpool, Leeds, Hull, Sheffield, Nottingham, Leicester, Coventry and Bristol.
The country’s largest carrier by market share said that the first 1,500 sites that will be upgraded to 5G next year — which will transmit at up to 10Gbps — will carry as much as 25 percent of all data across the whole network.
Despite the selected sites covering just 15 percent of the U.K. population, EE said that the increased capacity is integral to enable businesses to take full advantage of the next generation mobile technology.
The U.K.’s other major carriers —Vodafone,O2, andThree— have also promised to debut 5G next year, with eachtesting their own hardwarein the race to be first following thespectrum auctionearlier this year. At the moment, it seems as though that title will likely go to EE, as it did with 4G back in 2012.
Much like theU.S. 5G picture, it’s best to apply a wait and see approach with the5G hype. That said, at least U.K. residents now have an idea of where it will debut when the 5G rush hits next year.
Up next:Intel introduces its 5G modem, pushes launch forward by 6 months
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