It’s no secret that EE is leading the charge when it comes to the UK’s 5G infrastructure and its latest announcement confirms a new slate of major sites can now make use of this next-generation connectivity.
As of 12 March 2020, EE has confirmed that it’s added 21 new towns and cities to its roster of supported 5G locations across the country. This brings the total to 71 locales, since the carrier launched its 5G network nearly one year ago, back in May 2019.
Of these 21 new sites, Chelmsford, Loughborough and Rochester were among the first to be switched on, along with Bransholme, Bury, Cheshunt, Clevedon, Dartford, Dinnington, Loughton, North Shields, Rugeley, Swadlincote, South Shields, Staines and Waltham Cross.
In addition to adding new locations to the list, the carrier has also spent time reinforcing 5G connectivity in existing high footfall areas, such as Bath’s Royal Crescent, as well as London Bridge and Thornton Heath in the capital.
A lot has changed since Tech Advisor put EE’s 5G network to the test back in June 2019. For one, the competition has had time to catch up, with Vodafone, O2 and Three all now offering 5G coverage and devices as well.
Speaking of devices, there are a wealth of new 5G handsets to choose from and the technology itself is already becoming more affordable, with the likes of Qualcomm releasing the Snapdragon 765 – its first non-flagship chipset to support 5G.
Samsung’s latest flagships, the Galaxy S20 family, all now offer 5G connectivity, while players like Sony are joining the fray with its upcoming Xperia 1 II flagship. Lesser-known companies, such as Realme, are also on-track to produce cheaper 5G devices this year, like the X50 Pro 5G, which it announced in March. Check out our Best 5G Phones feature for more.
While at launch, we were impressed with the speeds that EE’s 5G network was able to dole out, independent monitoring from the likes of RootMetrics reaffirms that the carrier still offers the most widespread, robust and fastest 5G network in the country.