Three UK Build Ultrafast 5G Mobile to 154 UK Towns and Cities

Mobile operator Three UK has today announced that their 5G based (mobile broadband) network has now started to go live across busy parts of some 154 UK towns and cities (via a total of 800 cell sites and masts), which also includes the launch of their first Ericsson powered 5G sites in Manchester, Glasgow and Reading.

Technically speaking Three UK’s new 5G network began to go live in August 2019, although their availability was initially restricted to central London and the only way to use it was via their dedicated unlimited Three Broadband service. The network was then finally extended to include regular 5G mobile (Smartphone) services in February 2020 and they’ve been busy deploying ever since (here).

The operator also retains one key advantage over their rivals in that they can harness a total of about 140MHz (frequency) across several related radio spectrum bands. One of those includes a 100MHz block of contiguous spectrum in the 3.4-3.8GHz band (here), which is known to be the sweet spot for 5G speeds. By comparison their rivals are currently only harnessing a smaller slice of the 3.4GHz band (40-50MHz each).

As a result of all this Three UK claims that their 5G customers can benefit from having access to the “UK’s fastest 5G network,” with median download speeds in excess of 200Mbps in Q3 2020, according to Ookla (results summary). But this result has to be weighed against the fact that they don’t have the strongest 5G availability in the UK (that honour goes to EE).

Susan Buttsworth, COO of Three UK, said:

“We’re pleased to have our first Ericsson sites live on our network. Ericsson are a key partner in the transformation of our network. Our customers use 3.5 times more data than the industry average so the investments that we are making are vital to enhancing current performance of our 4G network, futureproofing it and delivering on our promise of providing better connectivity, every day for every customer.”

Otherwise all of Three’s new and existing customers will have access to 5G with “no speed caps and at no extra cost” on all contract, SIM only and PAYG mobile plans. The operator is currently investing £2bn to upgrade their national network, which also includes new fibre optic backhaul capacity links and data centres to help support the rising demands of their subscribers.

However, it hasn’t all been smooth sailing for Three, which originally put all of their 5G eggs into one basket with Huawei and has since had to change that plan (i.e. the new supplier deal with Ericsson), thanks to some significant Government flip-flopping over whether or not the ban the Chinese supplier (here).

On top of that Ofcom’s imminent auction of several new 5G friendly bands (700MHz and 3.6-3.8GHz) may either erode or strengthen some of their current spectrum advantage (here).

Full List of Three UK’s 5G Mobile Sites

Aberdeen

Abingdon-on-Thames

Adlington

Aldershot

Aldridge

Balloch

Barnsley

Barrow-in-Furness

Basildon

Bath

Bedford

Belfast City

Billericay

Billingham

Birkenhead

Birmingham

Blackburn

Blackpool

Borehamwood

Bournemouth

Bradford

Brighton

Brimington

Bristol

Bromsgrove

Brookmans Park

Broughton Astley

Burton upon Trent

Cannock

Cardiff / Caerdydd

Chatham

Chelmsford

Cheltenham

Chesham

Christleton

Clayton-le-Woods

Clifton

Colchester

Copmanthorpe

Corringham

Coventry

Crawley

Crook

Cullingworth

Danderhall

Denholme

Derby

Dewsbury

Doncaster

Dundee

East Kilbride

Edinburgh

Ellesmere Port

Exmouth

Glasgow

Gorebridge

Grays

Greenock

Grimsby

Guildford

Hamilton

Hartley

Heanor

Heathcote

Hedge End

Hemel Hempstead

Hertford

Heswall

Horley

Horwich

Huddersfield

Huntington

Inchinnan

Ingleby Barwick

Ipswich

Irlam

Iver Heath

Kings Hill

Kings Langley

Kingston upon Hull

Kirkheaton

Leeds

Leicester

Leyland

Lincoln

Liverpool

London

Lower Stondon

Luton

Maidenhead

Maidstone

Manchester

Mansfield

Marlow Bottom

Metropolitan Castlereagh

Metropolitan Newtownabbey

Milton Keynes

Motherwell

Neston

Newcastle upon Tyne

Newhall

Newport / Casnewydd

Newquay

Newton Aycliffe

Newton-le-Willows

Normanton

Northampton

Nottingham

Nuneaton

Ottershaw

Oxford

Peterborough

Plymouth

Porthcawl

Portsmouth

Preston

Reading

Redcar

Royston

Sheffield

Shelly Green

Slough

South Heighton

South Normanton

Southampton

Southend-on-Sea

Southport

St Albans

St Blazey

St Columb Road

Stevenage

Stockton-on-Tees

Stoke-on-Trent

Sunderland

Sunninghill

Sutton in Ashfield

Swadlincote

Swindon

Tamworth

Telford

Thornaby-on-Tees

Wakefield

Walton

Warrington

Washington

Westhoughton

Weybridge

Wickford

Wigan

Winterbourne

Worcester

Worksop

Writtle

York