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Articles for Category Tag - 5G

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Vodafone UK Introduce New Mobile Broadband 5G Speed Boost Add-on UPDATE

5th February, 2026 (22 Comments)

Some of ISPreview’s readers (credits Jade and Mike) have spotted that mobile network operator Vodafone (VodafoneThree) appears to have quietly added a new ‘Speed Boost’ add-on (Extras), which promises that data usage will be “prioritised on our network giving you the fastest speeds available in busy areas like train stations, stadiums, and crowded places.”

VodafoneThree Top 1.77 Million UK Broadband Users as Mobile Shrinks to 28.6M

5th February, 2026 (7 Comments)

Broadband and mobile operator Vodafone (VodafoneThree) has today published their latest Q3 FY26 financial results. The figures show that they now have 1.768 million fixed broadband customers (up strongly by 64k in Q3 vs 50k in Q2) and a huge combined mobile base of 28.619m (down from 28.824m).

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BT Results – Openreach Lose 210k UK Broadband Lines as FTTP Cover Hits 21.4M

5th February, 2026 (28 Comments)

Telecoms giant BT Group just published a short trading update to the end December 2025 (Q3 FY26), which reveals that Openreach lost a total of 210,000 broadband lines to rivals over the past quarter (down from 242k in Sept 2025). But their “full fibre” (FTTP) coverage grew to 21.4 million premises (up from 20.3m) and take-up increased to 38% (up from 37.66%).

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Virgin Media O2 Deploy AI Tech to Minimise Downtime on UK Mobile Network

4th February, 2026 (2 Comments)

Mobile operator O2 (Virgin Media) has announced that they’re working with Zinkworks to deploy AI-driven automation technology to “minimise downtime” across their 4G and 5G mobile network. The move is said build on “proven results” with their fixed broadband network, where similar automation has already had a big impact.

mobile network speed test on UK smartphone

RootMetrics Research Name EE as the Top UK Mobile Network for H2 2025

4th February, 2026 (3 Comments)

Mobile network benchmarking firm RootMetrics (Ookla) has today published their H2 2025 study of UK mobile networks (calls, texts etc.) and mobile broadband (4G, 5G) speeds. The results once again name EE as the best mobile operator after they scooped up the highest scores and fastest data speeds across most categories, while O2 languished at the bottom but has improved.

nPerf Name EE and Three UK as Fastest Mobile Broadband Networks for 2026

2nd February, 2026 (3 Comments)

French internet connection benchmarking firm nPerf has this morning published the results from their annual 2026 crowdsourced study into UK mobile broadband (4G, 5G) performance. The results see both EE and Three UK being named as delivering the country’s “best Mobile Internet performances“.

O2 UK Deploy 5G Standalone Mobile Broadband Network to 5 Towns in Dorset

29th January, 2026 (7 Comments)

Mobile operator O2 (Virgin Media) has this morning announced that they’ve just switched-on their next-generation 5G Standalone (5GSA) mobile broadband network across five “major towns” in the county of Dorset (England). The operator’s 5GSA network is now live across a total of more than 500 UK locations (70% of the population, or c.49 million people).

EE Wins Big in Opensignal Study of Best 4G and 5G UK Mobile Networks

29th January, 2026 (22 Comments)

Network benchmarking firm Opensignal has this morning published their first Mobile Network Experience Report for 2026, which measured the 4G and 5G (mobile broadband) services of all the primary network operators – EE, O2 and VodafoneThree (Vodafone and Three UK) – to determine which delivers the best performance. Overall, EE won most, but not all, of the categories.

Block of UK flats and apartments MDU - 123RF ID147572482

Gov to Streamline England’s Building Controls for Fibre Broadband and Mobile UPDATE3

28th January, 2026 (1 Comment)

The Government appears to have responded to recent concerns over the Building Safety Regulator’s (BSR) approval processes, which are known to have been causing delays and increased costs for broadband and mobile operators trying to deploy new digital infrastructure into large buildings (MDUs etc.). But a new consultation is proposing changes that may address some of the issues.

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BT Backs New Apple iOS 26.3 Feature to Limit UK Location Data on Mobile

28th January, 2026 (13 Comments)

Apple’s next major iOS software update for iPhones – v26.3 – looks set to include an interesting new feature, which aims to improve user privacy by limiting the amount of location data available to mobile network operators. The move is apparently set to be supported by EE (BT) in the United Kingdom, although no other UK operators are currently named.

CBNG VectaStar NR wireless broadband hardware

CBNG Launch UK Next Gen 5G-based Fixed Wireless Broadband Platform

26th January, 2026 (2 Comments)

The Cambridge Broadband Networks Group (CBNG), which develops network tech for mobile and wireless broadband operators, has launched the latest generation of their Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) platform – VectaStar NR. The new kit is said to be designed to “deliver ‘fibre like’ broadband [performance] using 5G-based technology … without the time, cost and disruption of fibre rollouts“.

New Map of UK Cellular Coverage Goes Live to Help Examine Mobile Masts UPDATE2

26th January, 2026 (37 Comments)

A group of friends in the UK cellular (mobile networks) community have launched a new interactive map – UKCellNet RF Map – that allows hobbyists and professionals to access public cellular data (e.g. location and data on mobile phone mast sites etc.) for free – sourced from places like SiteFinder, Ofcom, planning applications and council FOI / EIR requests etc.

Starlink Prep Second Generation Direct-to-Cell 5G Mobile Satellites for 2027

22nd January, 2026 (9 Comments)

SpaceX has revealed that they’ll aim to launch the first batch of their “greatly enhanced” second generation (GEN2) Direct to Cell (DtC) capable broadband satellites in 2027 (probably Q4). The current service offers basic global coverage of a 4G mobile roaming service to unmodified Smartphones on the ground, typically alongside supporting mobile operators (e.g. O2 in the UK).

DCF Examine Other Countries to Reveal Learnings for UK 2G Mobile Switch-off

22nd January, 2026 (6 Comments)

A new report from Plum Consulting and the Digital Connectivity Forum (DCF), an industry think-tank, has today been published that attempts to identify what UK mobile operators can learn from the switch-off of legacy 2G networks in other countries. Needless to say, there are a few recommendations.

Ofcom Sets Out Current Progress and Future Plans to UK Prime Minister

21st January, 2026 (5 Comments)

The UK telecoms, media and internet content regulator, Ofcom, has this week written to the Prime Minister (Keir Starmer), Chancellor of the Exchequer (Rachel Reeves) and Secretary of State for Business and Trade (Peter Kyle), among others, to update them on how its work is “contributing to innovation, investment and growth in the UK“.

Mobile Operators Push for UK Planning Reform Again to Improve 5G and AI

21st January, 2026 (12 Comments)

Industry trade body Mobile UK, which represents EE, O2 and VodafoneThree (Vodafone and Three UK), has warned that the UK’s ambition to become an “AI superpower” will struggle without “high quality 5G Standalone (5GSA) networks acting as the ‘nervous system’“. But it warns that we “lag behind other leading nations” in this area and must reform the planning system.

Upload speed on mobile device uk by 123rf

Ookla Examine Mobile Broadband Upload Speeds and Capacity in the UK

20th January, 2026 (1 Comment)

Global network benchmarking firm Ookla, which collects data from consumers via their Speedtest.net service (inc. apps), has published a new report that takes a broad look into the impact of mobile (4G, 5G etc.) upload speeds in the age of AI and also reveals how much importance UK operators place upon it (EE, O2, Vodafone and Three UK).