EE turns on 5G in 21 new towns and cities
Celebration time for Bath, Chelmsford, Loughborough, Rochester and more
Last year, EE promised that it would have 5G switched on in more than 70 towns and cities by March 2020. Today, it has accomplished that aim with 19 days to spare, taking its total to 71.
The UK’s biggest mobile network has announced that 5G has been switched on in 21 new towns and cities including Bath, Rotherham and Bury. On top of this, a couple of existing places have had 5G expanded to high footfall locations including London Bridge and the Thornton Heath railway station.
“We have 5G coverage in more places than any other operator, and remain focused on connecting even more towns and cities in 2020 and beyond to keep our customers connected in the busiest places,” said Marc Allera, CEO of BT’s consumer division, announcing the news.
Here’s the full list of towns and cities where EE has switched on its first test sites:
- Bath
- Birkenhead
- Bransholme
- Bury
- Clydebank
- Chelmsford
- Cheshunt
- Clevedon
- Dartford
- Dinnington
- Loughborough
- Loughton
- North Shields
- Motherwell
- Rochester
- Rotherham
- Rugeley
- Swadlincote
- South Shields
- Staines
- Waltham Cross
Before you rush out and buy a 5G phone, you should know that just because a city has 5G capability, doesn’t mean it’s particularly widespread. As a London resident, I’ve technically had 5G available since mid 2019, but that didn’t mean that reviewing the Samsung Galaxy A90 5G was as straightforward as you’d imagine, with the majority of the city receiving no signal.
This was on Vodafone, but the only areas I got signal were around Hammersmith and Fitzrovia, and even then speeds were comparable to 4G on a good day, rather than the lightning rate 5G can theoretically achieve.
Still, this is definitely a step towards ending that issue, and given the recent Samsung Galaxy S20 series is 5G-ready, it’s good to know that more places will be able to experience it – even if said experience is currently patchy.