Three to go to market with fixed wireless 5G
U.K. mobile operator Three announced it will launch 5G in August with a 5G home broadband offering in London.
Following this initial launch, Three will also offer both mobile and home broadband services in 25 towns and cities across the UK before the end of the year.
Network improvements are being carried out across the busiest areas of the U.K., including London, Cardiff, Glasgow, Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool, as part of Three’s 5G infrastructure investment commitment which includes a new 5G-ready cloud core network provided by Nokia.
Additional cities which will receive 5G coverage during this year include Bolton, Bradford, Brighton, Bristol, Coventry, Derby, Edinburgh,, Hull, Leeds, Leicester, Middlesbrough, Milton Keynes, Nottingham, Reading, Sheffield, Sunderland and Wolverhampton, among others.
Three said it has 140 megahertz of 5G spectrum which is more than twice as much 5G spectrum as its closest competitor.
Over the next three years, Three’s 5G rollout will continue to ramp up to cover 80% of its network traffic.
Dave Dyson, CEO at Three, said: “It’s clear that consumers and businesses want more and more data. We have the UK’s best network for data and we have led the market on customer usage on both 3G and 4G technologies. We have worked hard over a long period of time to be able to offer the best end to end 5G experience. 5G is a game changer for Three, and of course I am excited that we will be the only operator in the UK who can offer true 5G.”
The commercial follows a number of 5G trials carried out by Three in London. The telco said it will be announcing more detail around handset range and pricing in July.
Three, part of the CK Hutchison Holdings, currently has approximately 10 million subscribers in the U.K.
Rival operator EE recently launched commercial 5G services in a number of U.K. cities including London, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Belfast, Birmingham and Manchester.
EE will also be introducing 5G across the busiest parts of Bristol, Coventry, Glasgow, Hull, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield during the rest of the year. In 2020, Aberdeen, Bournemouth, Brighton, Cambridge, Dundee, Exeter, Ipswich, Norwich, Plymouth and York will receive 5G coverage,
Vodafone also announced that it will commercially launch its 5G network in seven cities across the U.K. on July 3. The telco said that the new technology will be commercially available for both consumers and business customers. Vodafone also said that it will also offer 5G roaming in the U.K., Germany, Italy and Spain over the summer.
Initial 5G services will be available in Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Glasgow, Manchester, Liverpool and London, while Birkenhead, Blackpool, Bournemouth, Guildford, Newbury, Portsmouth, Plymouth, Reading, Southampton, Stoke-on-Trent, Warrington and Wolverhampton will follow later this year.
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