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EE to Put 5G Standalone Mobile Network Live in 16 New UK Locations

Monday, Oct 28th, 2024 (9:26 am) - Score 10,880
EE-Mobile-Customer-on-Smartphone

Broadband ISP and mobile operator EE (BT) has this morning announced the next batch of 16 new UK locations (towns and cities) where their new 5G Standalone (SA) network will be deployed “before the end of the year“, which will bring various benefits such as faster speeds, network prioritisation and other features to customers.

The majority of UK 5G mobile networks today are Non-Standalone (NSA), which means they are still partly reliant upon older and slower 4G infrastructure. But SA networks are pure end-to-end 5G that can deliver ultra-low latency times, greater energy efficiency, better speeds (particularly uploads), network slicing, improved support for Internet of Things (IoT) devices, support for Voice over New Radio (VoNR or Vo5G) and increased reliability and security etc.

NOTE: Network slicing allows for multiple virtual network slices across the same physical network. Each slice is isolated from other network traffic to give dedicated performance, with the features of the slice tailored to the use case requirements (online gaming, enhanced mobile broadband etc.).

Just to recap. EE officially launched a range of new 5G SA supporting mobile plans across 15 major UK cities last month (here), including Bath, Belfast, Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Hull, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, London, Manchester and Sheffield.

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The next batch of 16 additional locations, which are due to go live before the end of this year, should result in EE’s new 5G SA network being able to “cover an area of more than 21 million people, almost a third of the UK population“.

EE’s 16 New 5G SA Locations
Ashton-under-Lyne
Barrow-in-Furness
Barry
Birkenhead
Bury
Coventry
Dudley
Dundee
Newport
Nottingham
St Helens
Stockport
Swansea
Weston Super Mare
Wigan
Wolverhampton

We should point out that, unlike some other operators, EE generally don’t announce a new location as being live until they’ve achieved a good level of initial coverage. Take note that EE has committed to delivering at least 95% outdoor coverage in “every town or city where it launches 5G standalone to date“.

The operator claims that its own network performance data has shown that 5G standalone is already “delivering a better mobile internet experience, with customers using the network benefitting from improved video calls, streaming and online gaming, both in and out of their homes – as well as higher quality voice calls even in congested areas“, although they didn’t substantiate this with any results.

However, 5G SA technology is still somewhat constrained by limited device support, with EE saying it’s currently available on the following kit: Apple iPhone 15 and 16 series, Samsung Galaxy S23 and S24 lineup, TCL 50, Moto Razer 50 Ultra, and Moto G85 5G with further smartphones to be enabled in the “coming months“. It is also available on EE 5GEE WiFi and 5GEE Home (Smart 5G Hub).

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Mark-Jackson
By Mark Jackson
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, BlueSky, Threads.net and .
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23 Responses

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  1. Avatar photo Jon says:

    Calling 4G “older and slower” is highly amusing.

    1. Avatar photo Stephen Wakeman says:

      Given both descriptions are objectively true, why?

    2. Avatar photo greggles says:

      I havent seen any 5G areas personally that are hugely faster than 4G, although I have seen very fast speedtests posted on ispreview forums.

      There seems to be compatibility issues potentially around DSS, but I have also been testing with a phone that was issued from EE on their top package.

  2. Avatar photo Nigel Jones says:

    Hoping to see some in Brighton soon. Sadly we’re not on the first or second list.

  3. Avatar photo Skalamanga says:

    It should be mandatory that rollout is published.

    I get around 90dBm at both home and work, yet my home speed is a few percent of the speed I get in the office.

  4. Avatar photo MST says:

    How can they have the cheek to boast about this when they haven’t even got 4G in central Oxford, because they failed to notice their mast was on an old shopping centre that was scheduled to be demolished in February 2024. 9 months later they are still thinking about looking to for a new site to procure and start the planning permission process…

    1. Avatar photo 125us says:

      They’re, like, different things?

  5. Avatar photo Phil says:

    Again, Telford are left out by EE and BT!

  6. Avatar photo Phil says:

    I am pretty 100% sure Samsung A54 5G does support both 5G NSA and 5G SA. Why is EE and BT choose which devices for 5G SA?

    1. Avatar photo Optical says:

      Have a Samsung A54 5G,& Samsung A73 5G both supports it.

  7. Avatar photo Anuraj says:

    How do we know we connected to 5G NSA or SA.

    Will it shows on display e.g 5g+ or 5g u/w ?

    I am using iPhone 16.

    1. Avatar photo John says:

      Dial *3001#12345#* and select Servicing Cell Info

    2. Avatar photo Phil says:

      Netmonster app will tell you if you are connected to 5G NSA or SA

    3. Avatar photo greggles says:

      Sadly the icon seems very bodged in the implementation.

      5G will show simply been connected to a cell that is 5G capable, but it doesnt mean you actually using 5G, I dont know if the icon changes if you on SA either.

  8. Avatar photo Rik says:

    EE trying to sell 5G SA as a benefit by only offering it to new or upgrading customers is a joke. 5G SA is meant to save the providers money so charging customers for the privilege is a joke if you ask me.

    I’m on SIM only at £24 a month. The cheapest upgrade I could get to keep my existing benefits is £42 a month. No thanks.

    1. Avatar photo Nnnnnn says:

      I think it’s disgusting as-well.

    2. Avatar photo Sam says:

      Very well said couldn’t agree more.

      My main problem is I don’t understand why they can’t just offer it as an add on. I really don’t want to upgrade my plan but would really like to have 5G SA so why isn’t it offered as an add on? Bear in mind that if you are on any of the plans that offer 5G SA it shows as an add on in My EE. For me this is absolutely mind blowing.

    3. Avatar photo André says:

      They will use the “New Tech” type to upgrade people who want the new shiny-shiny and eventually roll it out to the rest, as it’ll benefit the network for them to do so (as you mentioned).

      It has ever been thus.

      If you hang fire for a year or so (maybe not even that much!) you’ll get it 🙂

    4. Avatar photo nicklad says:

      We all bought 5G contracts with EE, none of us originally bought 5G NSA only contracts. Therefore, I suspect that what EE is currently doing by gating access 5G SA to newer contracts might be, and probably is if tested, unlawful.

      It certainly seems to be EE profiteering at the moment with customers who are prepared to pay a premium for early 5G SA access, despite the marginal benefits to consumers it brings at present.

      I suspect this will not persist due to there being far more of a carrier benefit to 5G SA, particularly as EE will ultimately want to be able to diminish and minimise use of 5G NSA with a goal of phasing it out completely. At the moment, few phones are supported by EE despite device support for 5G SA in the field being much broader.

      The iPhone 13 and later, for example, should support 5G SA adequately, iPhone 12 users may be forced to 4G when 5G NSA is eventually phased out.

      It certainly seems early days, and I would suggest ignoring this and not caring for now due to the marginal benefits it brings for consumers, and the current limited deployment and availability.

  9. Avatar photo Martin says:

    Checking *3001#12345#* on my iPhone 14 Pro Max in a 4G only area and it says I have SA+NSA capabilities. Wasn’t expecting to see that on a 14 on 1p Mobile!

    1. Avatar photo Phil says:

      1p mobile do not support 5G SA only 5G NSA. They told me few weeks ago as 5G SA not available on 1p mobile and no plan to add 5G SA either.

  10. Avatar photo chosenblues says:

    I can’t help but think some of these areas seem a bit random, but having more 5G SA can always be good, especially in tourism hotspots!

    Hoping we might be added in the next update since EE seems to be doing a lot of work lately.

  11. Avatar photo ee says:

    I hope this will resolve the poor service in congested areas such as Paddington at peak times. Have full 5G signal but can’t access any cat memes.

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