EE to launch UK's first 5G service in May

[weekev]

Launching first in London, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Belfast, Birmingham and Manchester.

EE promised three major improvements for customers making the swap from 4G to 5G:

• Increased capacity - making it easier to get service in busy places such as railway stations and stadiums
• Average speeds will go up to 150Mbps (megabits per second) compared with a top speed of 50Mbps when 4G was launched. Some customers will get speeds of up to one gigabit, with improvements for everyone over time
• Low latency - of particular benefit for online games and new services such as those utilising augmented reality

Source
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-48363462

Interesting times, will be interested to see how this transforms the way we consume data.

 

[Breqesk]

I look forward to this being available on some MVNO's £12 SIM-only plan in a few years.

 

[ashbash159]

Average of 150Mbps?!

My home internet is 30Mbps and it seems like most people's is that around here (with some getting around 70Mbps).

Is our mobile internet really going to be better than our home internet in the UK?

 

[fivestarman]

Madness that an over the air service will outdo BT/Sky/TalkTalk etc lol

 

[weekev]

Average of 150Mbps?!

My home internet is 30Mbps and it seems like most people's is that around here (with some getting around 70Mbps).

Is our mobile internet really going to be better than our home internet in the UK?

Click to shrink...

i think its an interesting point. My understanding is that the cost of providing mobile data is a lot more expensive than fixed line so not sure how sustainable it is to see it as a replacement for fixed line bb but gigabit services will need to follow suit otherwise why would you want a fixed line when, as you say, you can get higher speeds on mobile?

 

[Broken Hope]

Average of 150Mbps?!

My home internet is 30Mbps and it seems like most people's is that around here (with some getting around 70Mbps).

Is our mobile internet really going to be better than our home internet in the UK?

Click to shrink...

Depends on who you're with surely, I mean Virgin Media's lowest package is like 50Mb these days and tops out at 500Mb.

 

[oledome]

Prices for 5G - which will require new handsets - will start at £54 per month for 10 gigabytes of data.

Click to shrink...

I pay £19/month for 100GB for 4G...

 

[BraXzy]

Average of 150Mbps?!

My home internet is 30Mbps and it seems like most people's is that around here (with some getting around 70Mbps).

Is our mobile internet really going to be better than our home internet in the UK?

Click to shrink...

I mean I already get 70+ on BT (EE) 4G now. Pretty crazy though how the wireless speeds keep going up. I look forward to the day we not longer need to rely on the crappy copper wires that hinder the potential fibre future.

 

[args]

EE?

 

[Coolsambob]

Average of 150Mbps?!

My home internet is 30Mbps and it seems like most people's is that around here (with some getting around 70Mbps).

Is our mobile internet really going to be better than our home internet in the UK?

Click to shrink...

My home internet is somewhere around 9mbps on a good day. Had to start tethering 4g through my phone for any streams I want to watch

 

[DBT85]

I'd have got 4g home broadband ages ago had the bandwidth restrictions not been so harsh and or expensive. Will be interested to see how 5g stacks up in that regard.

Not that I care now as I just got a new cabinet installed and have fttc 80/20 lol

 

[OgTheEnigma]

Prices for 5G - which will require new handsets - will start at £54 per month for 10 gigabytes of data.

Click to shrink...

I pay £19/month for 100GB for 4G...

Click to shrink...

You can stretch that data to nearly 10 minutes per month at the average max speed!

I think I'm good paying £8 per month for 2 gigabytes, for a while longer.

 

[Freestyler]

Is it just me or is 5G a bit of a letdown in terms of specs?

I understand that it's not all about raw speed but I just did a speed test on 4G and got 17ms ping and 144 up, 59.5 down (Mbps).

My home internet is 1000/500 Mbps.

Is 5G easier to upgrade over time?

 

[OgTheEnigma]

I was just reading the article, and it implies that Niantic's new Harry Potter game will be exclusive to EE? Is this the first time a mobile operator has had an exclusive game?(discounting older platforms like Nokia N-Gage)

The mobile operator has also signed an exclusive deal with Niantic, the makers of Pokemon Go, to carry its augmented reality game Harry Potter: Wizards United game when it launches in the UK in the summer.

Click to shrink...

 

[weekev]

I was just reading the article, and it implies that Niantic's new Harry Potter game will be exclusive to EE? Is this the first time a mobile operator has had an exclusive game?(discounting older platforms like Nokia N-Gage)

Click to shrink...

Never even noticed that. How do they police that when the game will be on an android or iTunes storefront.

 

[Zarathustra]

For home usage, Sky are getting ready to launch new ultrafast Fibre products at some point over the summer (talks of up to or average 150Mbps speeds).