Vodafone UK announced that it will launch 5G in an additional 12 more towns and cities across the UK during 2019.
These additional locations join the seven cities that are already live or switching on soon under our UK-wide trial, which started last year.
Vodafone became the first UK company to carry 5G traffic over a commercial mobile network in October 2018 from a location in Salford, Greater Manchester. Now sites in Bristol, Cardiff and Liverpool have been switched on and are streaming live 5G mobile data traffic to and from the Internet, using the latest compatible routers.
Meanwhile Vodafone's engineers have installed 5G antennas and associated equipment in Birmingham, Glasgow and London ahead of going live. All our mobile sites are connected to Vodafone RedStream, our nationwide optical fibre network, with connections giving speeds of up to 10 gigabits per second to ensure customers wishing to stream video without buffering can do so even in built-up areas at busy times of the day.
In addition to live field trials, Vodafone is also rigorously testing the performance of 5G smartphones, processors and routers in our Newbury technology headquarters using the latest industry standards which were approved in December 2018. This means customers can be assured that the service will work seamlessly when launched later in 2019.
In addition to the 12 new cities announced, the Operator's investment in the latest Active Antenna (Massive MIMO) technology means many existing 4G sites are now 5G ready. This technology effectively provides multiple-data ‘channels’ from a single antenna, coupled with our 3.4GHz 5G spectrum. Vodafone secured the largest block of this 5G spectrum at last year’s auction.
Scott Petty, CTO, Vodafone UK
Our multi-billion-pound network investment and leading position in setting global standards will ensure our customers have the very latest 5G releases and technology. 5G will also usher in a new era where everyone and everything is better connected, whether you are running a hotel in Portsmouth or broadcasting live at MediaCity in Salford.
