EE expands 5G to 160 locations

Mobile network operator EE has released figures indicating that it has added 35 new towns and cities to its 5G network in the UK, making a total of 160 locations.

New localities on the network include Aylesbury, Worcester, Portsmouth, as well as tourist spots including Brighton PIer.

The BT-owned operator said it defines a location as '5G connected' if it “has a minimum population of 10,000 and [at least] a third of that total can receive a signal”.

EE was the first UK operator to launch a commercial 5G service in 2019 and claims it will achieve one million active 5G users “within the next month”.

Marc Allera, CEO of BT’s consumer business, said: “5G has many benefits, but the quality of the experience is top of the list. Although it might have been used less than normal in the past year, investment in and improvements to our mobile network haven’t stopped during the pandemic.

“As we look forward to a summer of unprecedented domestic tourism, we’ve added outdoor 5G coverage to some of the UK’s most popular tourist landmarks including Brighton Pier, York Museum Gardens, Sandbanks Beach and the V&A museum in Dundee.”

At present, EE can only harness a 40MHz slice of the 3.4GHz radio spectrum band for dedicated 5G services but the operator recently secured 80MHz of spectrum in Ofcom’s latest auction of the 700MHz and 3.6-3.8GHz bands to expand its network coverage.