First Six UK 5G Cities Named

engineering careers  First Six UK 5G Cities Named

Mobile network EE has announced the first six UK cities will to get the ultra-fast 5G mobile networks.

EE will expand on its existing trials in 2019 and is set to turn on their 5G network in London, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Belfast, Birmingham and Manchester.

The company, owned by BT, is aiming to then roll out 5G to another 10 cities by the end of next year. The company hopes that it will become the UK’s first 5G provider.

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EE has explained their strategy is led by demand. It is targetting locations it has identified as busy or high data consumers.

The rollout to these six cities will be built around the most data-congested areas. For example; Hyde Park in London, Manchester Arena, the Welsh Assembly, Edinburgh Waverly train station, Birmingham’s Bullring and Belfast City Airport; are set to go live first.

EE believe that by targetting these high traffic locations they can make the biggest difference. Transport hubs often carry huge amounts of data alongside people. For example; EE’s Waterloo Station hub carries around 100TB of data each day.

Each location will be equipped with transmission links of up to 10Gbps and connected to the Petabit-class BT 21CN backbone network.

The technology has the potential to change not just the mobile industry in the UK but also broadband. In theory, 5G can support speeds up to 10Gbps. The technology will be key to shaping the cities of the future.

EE is set to target home broadband users with a 5G broadband package in 2019 as well as mobile users and are currently trialling the technology in and around London’s Canary Wharf.