Mobile Operator EE Set UK Live Date for Commercial 5G Network

Mobile operator EE (BT) has today moved to steal some of Vodafone’s thunder by announcing that their own commercial ultrafast 5G mobile (mobile broadband) network will go live (non-trial) from 30th May 2019 in parts of London, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Belfast, Birmingham and Manchester. New rollout locations for 2020 have also been confirmed.

The operator has already begun several trials of the new network using the 3.4GHz band, although the lack of supporting 5G capable Smartphones meant that initially these were primarily focused upon 1Gbps+ capable fixed wireless broadband ISP style connections for homes and businesses (here and here).

Likewise the initial rollout will be gradual and urban centric (i.e. busiest parts of each city), which is partly because the operators have to wait for Ofcom to auction off a number of additional radio spectrum bands (e.g. 700MHz and 3.6-3.8GHz) before they can make the best use of the new technology. Sadly those bands aren’t likely to be released to them until 2020, which assumes the auction process isn’t delayed.. again.

Nevertheless EE says they deploying 5G “rapidly from today” and intend to add more than 100 new sites per month (each is expected to be linked via a 10Gbps fibre line). The initial rollout locations are the same as announced at the end of 2018 (here), although they’ve just confirmed the next batch of areas for early 2020 (Aberdeen, Cambridge, Derby, Gloucester, Peterborough, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Southampton, Worcester and Wolverhampton).

The first 1,500 sites to benefit currently carry 25% of all data across the whole network, but only cover 15% of the UK population. As you’d expect EE will also launch this alongside several new 5G plans (SIM-Only and handset bundles), including a range of six supporting smartphones (Samsung S10 5G, OnePlus 7 Pro 5G, LG V50 ThinQ and Oppo Reno 5G) and devices (e.g. a 5GEE Home router with external antenna that can connect individual homes to ultrafast broadband).

The new 5G Smart plans, which start from 10GB at £54 per month and extend up to 120GB for £74 per month (expensive) when bundled with a smartphone, will also give customers access to some new Swappable Benefits – BT Sport HD HDR TV content (normally £15), an exclusive Gamer’s Data Pass with zero-rated data (£7.99), a chance to upgrade anytime and get a device warranty for the duration of their contract.

EE service packs provide:

– £10 towards one of our premium cases or screen protectors to keep their device protected.

– An annual device and EE mobile account MOT.

– An extended device warranty for the lifetime of the customer’s contract.

Customers taking the top 120GB plan will be able to choose from three swappable benefits included into their price, while others can pick two. Meanwhile SIM-Only plans start from 20GB per month (£32 per month) and rise to 100GB (£52 per month).

Marc Allera, CEO of BT’s Consumer division, said:

“This is the start of the UK’s 5G journey and great news for our customers that want and need the best connections. We’ve started with 5G in some of the busiest parts of the UK, the widest range of 5G devices in the UK, and plans that give customers the best mobile connection and great benefits.

We’re adding 5G to the UK’s number one 4G network to increase reliability, increase speeds, and keep our customers connected where they need it most. 5G will create new experiences with augmented reality, make our customers’ lives easier, and help launch entirely new businesses that we haven’t even imagined. We’re upgrading more than 100 sites to 5G every month from today to connect more places to what 5G can enable.

Our partnerships with Google and Niantic are just the start of our commitment to work with the most innovative and exciting companies in the world to ensure that EE customers are the first to benefit from the exciting new experiences that 5G will bring.”

EE said they expect customers to experience an increase in speeds of around 100-150Mbps “even in the busiest areas“. Apparently “some customers” are also predicted to break the 1Gbps (1000Mbps+) milestone on their 5G smartphones (the fastest speed possible when EE launched 4G in 2012 was just 50Mbps). Mind you the attached picture displays a test running at 544Mbps downstream via a Community Fibre Ltd. server in London.

All of the above is said to reflect Phase 1 of EE’s 5G rollout: a ‘non-standalone’ deployment focused on using the combined power of 4G and 5G to give customers the “fastest, most reliable mobile broadband experience they’ve ever had.” But they also have two more phases that will run until 2033.

Phase 2, from 2022, will introduce the full next generation 5G core network, enhanced device chipset capabilities, and increased availability of 5G-ready spectrum. “Higher bandwidth and lower latency, coupled with expansive and growing 5G coverage, will enable a more responsive network, enabling truly immersive mobile augmented reality, real-time health monitoring, and mobile cloud gaming. Phase 2 is also a vital step on our journey to the convergence of our network technologies, as we bring together fixed, mobile and WiFi into one seamless customer experience,” said EE.

Phase 3, from 2023, will introduce Ultra-Reliable Low Latency Communications (URLLC), Network Slicing and multi-gigabit per second speeds. “This phase of 5G will enable critical applications like real-time traffic management of fleets of autonomous vehicles, massive sensor networks with millions of devices measuring air quality across the entire country, and the ‘tactile internet’, where a sense of touch can be added to remote real-time interactions,” added the operator.

All of this sounds like very good news, although it may initially be a tougher sell to convince consumers that 5G is worth it on their Smartphone vs the existing 4G services (ultrafast speeds aren’t as important on a small screen, particularly if you can already get good speeds).

On the other hand this does enable EE to skip ahead of Vodafone’s recently announced 3rd July 2019 launch (here), although the big V also promised 5G at the same price as 4G and that’s a key difference. Still it’s worth noting that Three UK’s forthcoming 5G launch may be the one to watch since they have a much larger block of 5G friendly spectrum ready, which could produce better speeds (provided they have the capacity to fuel it).

Swappable Benefits for EE 5G Smart Plans

BT SPORT APP HDR (exclusive to 5G plans, and worth £15 per month) – Offering more vivid, life-like colours, and greater detail in darker or brighter areas of the picture, with casting to your television

GAMER’S DATA PASS (worth £7.99 per month) – EE is introducing the Gamer’s Data Pass to cover all the data customers use on a wide selection of games like Pokemon Go, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite at Twitch so they never have to worry about draining their data allowance

VIDEO DATA PASS (worth £8.99 per month) – Stream selected video services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, BT Sport, TV Player and MTV Play without using your data

MUSIC DATA PASS (worth £7.99 per month) – Stream selected music services such as Apple Music, Tidal & Deezer without using your data

ROAMING PASS (worth £10 per month) – Use your allowance in the USA, Mexico, Canada, Australia & New Zealand, as well as across the EU

BT SPORT APP (worth £10 per month) – Access to the standard BT Sport app