All BT Customers Now Have Access to 5G Mobile Data Plans
UK ISP BT (EE) has today announced that they’ve extended the availability of their new “superfast” 5G mobile network to all customers. Previously you could only get access to 5G on BT by taking one of their special “Halo” converged plans alongside a fixed broadband package.
BT Mobile‘s 5G service is of course based off sibling EE’s network, which is currently live across busy parts of 50 UK cities and towns (full list of locations) and this is expected to reach a total of more than 70 cities and large towns by March 2020. At present they only have access to the 3.4GHz band but more spectrum is due to be auctioned off by Ofcom this year for faster speeds and better coverage (e.g. 700MHz).
Initially four 5G plans are available alongside a choice of various 5G handsets from Samsung, Huawei and OnePlus etc. Customers can choose data allowances ranging from 6GB to 100GB, starting at £45 per month for a device such as the OnePlus 7 Pro 5G. Existing BT Halo customers can benefit even further with double data on all plans, with the 100GB option boosted to “unlimited” data as part of the ‘no limits’ plan exclusively available to BT Halo customers.
Pete Oliver, BT Consumer’s MD of Marketing, said:
“Our BT Halo customers have been some of the first to enjoy 5G in the UK, and we’re now giving all of our customers the chance to get superfast, reliable mobile connections even in the busiest places. Whether you’re watching HD TV or sport on the go, or FaceTiming your family on the way home, 5G makes a huge difference to everyday experiences and opens up even more exciting new experiences like seamless augmented reality and HD mobile gaming.”
Curiously there’s no mention of their SIM-Only plans being included and we have asked for a clarification of this (expect an update soon).
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook and Linkedin.
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And yet EE customers still have to pay a premium to get it..:(
Better than not getting it all *cough* Three *cough*
Yeah that’s fair enough. I had it for a week went back to 4G+ which was faster on my S10 🙁
Near my university, I can easily pull 300+Mbps on my S10 on 4G. Had to do a double take and make sure I wasn’t using Wi-Fi.
Well, that rollout was alot faster than predicted.
No 5G signal on sim only, tried on 2 sims on 2 different devices.
I assume that they are 5G devices ?
I have a 5G phone direct from the manufacturer and have been a BT Broadband Plus/Halo customer for some years. I also have a BT Sim Only plan however, I have been informed by their customer service that unless I bought my mobile from BT, I cannot benefit from their 5G. Very disappointed especially as there are mobile providers offering 5G without such caveats. Needless to say, I now have my PAC code.
I am in the same position. It seems utterly wrong that BT demands you have to buy a 5g phone from them to get a 5g plan.
It doesn’t make sense considering if you’re a BT business user they can get sim only.
Bt will only let you use there 5g network if you purchased a mobile from them bit disappointing i must admit
BT sim only are now offering 5G upgrade for free, i logged into my account and it offered me the free upgrade
Hi Ross, did you actually get it? I saw the same thing on my SIM only. But after speaking to Customer Services, they said this is a mistake. It has now been removed from My BT! perhaps its coming soon!?