You've probably heard of EE — they're the largest mobile carrier in the UK, and part of the even larger holding company BT Group. Earlier today, the company announced which UK cities will be included in the initial rollout of its upcoming 5G network next year.
Though there's no word on exactly when we can expect the first 5G sites to switch on, there will be six cities included in the initial 2019 launch: London, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Belfast, Birmingham, and Manchester. EE is building its first 5G sites in densely populated areas, including Hyde Park, Manchester Arena, Belfast City Airport, the Welsh Assembly, Edinburgh Waverly train station, and Bullring.
Later on in the year, EE's 5G network will expand to other busy areas in Glasgow, Newcastle, Liverpool, Leeds, Hull, Sheffield, Nottingham, Leicester, Coventry, and Bristol, with the aim of providing faster, more consistent data speeds to customers, even in heavily congested areas. Each 5G site is being upgraded to a 10Gbps link, which has already been tested successfully in trial sites across East London and Canary Wharf.
Of course, none of that will matter if your phone doesn't support the newer 5G standards, so EE is partnering with multiple (currently unspecified) smartphone manufacturers for the initial rollout. EE will also offer a broadband solution with its 5G home router, and has promised to continue developing out its 4G network as well, upgrading existing sites and converting 3G signals into 4G.