Mobile network EE has announced it will launch 5G in the United Kingdom on May 30, beating rival Vodafone's 5G offering which launches in early July.

5G EE network
At a London press event this morning, EE revealed that the new 5G service will run alongside 4G. EE also confirmed that it won't be throttling its 4G service to make the 5G look faster.

Marc Allera, chief executive of EE, said its 5G radio equipment will be supplied by its partners Qualcomm, Samsung, Google, LG, One Plus, Oppo, HTC, and Huawei.

EE will offer 5G to pre-order from today, with availability initially in six cities. EE says it plans to expand the rollout to 16 cities by the end of the year.

EE is offering 5G plans with next-generation devices, like the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G, to pre-order from today, but iPhone users will have to wait. Apple isn't prepared to launch 5G iPhones in 2019, making 2020 is almost certainly the year 5G will come to iPhone.

Last week, Vodafone said it will switch on its 5G network in the UK on July 3, making it seem at the time that it would be the first carrier to launch the next-generation cellular technology in the country.

Top Rated Comments

Juicy Box Avatar
64 months ago
EE also confirmed that it won't be throttling its 4G service to make the 5G look faster.
It is sad that this even needed to be confirmed......
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cookiesnfooty Avatar
64 months ago
First year I may skip upgrading if no 5G chip, I see no point.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
martyjmclean Avatar
64 months ago
Onya EE! My telco of choice when I’m in the UK.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
2499723 Avatar
64 months ago
I know 5G is supposed to revolutionise wireless communication and that we’ll all apparently be binning our 250mbps Virgin fibre broadband so we can pull data down from the sparkling heavens, but... I’d be content with consistent, reliable 4G coverage.

Oh well. It is what it is. All that said, EE is definitely the best mobile company I’ve ever had a contract with - and SIM only is cheap as chips given the alternatives.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Keane16 Avatar
64 months ago
First year I may skip upgrading if no 5G chip, I see no point.
Looking at the price markups for 5G I'm happy to hold out on 5G until it becomes free for existing customers (as networks eventually did with 3G and 4G).

I was pretty content with fast 3G. 4G was even better. I have no idea what I need from 5G today that 4G can't give me - so I won't be getting a 5G plan just yet.

But a camera with better low light photography - sign me up.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
azdolan Avatar
64 months ago
Is there any chance the 2019 Iphones will have 5G? Or zero possibility?
Zero possibility.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

Apple Silicon AI Optimized Feature Siri

Apple Releases Open Source AI Models That Run On-Device

Wednesday April 24, 2024 3:39 pm PDT by
Apple today released several open source large language models (LLMs) that are designed to run on-device rather than through cloud servers. Called OpenELM (Open-source Efficient Language Models), the LLMs are available on the Hugging Face Hub, a community for sharing AI code. As outlined in a white paper [PDF], there are eight total OpenELM models, four of which were pre-trained using the...
iOS 18 Siri Integrated Feature

iOS 18 Rumored to Add These 10 New Features to Your iPhone

Wednesday April 24, 2024 2:05 pm PDT by
Apple is set to unveil iOS 18 during its WWDC keynote on June 10, so the software update is a little over six weeks away from being announced. Below, we recap rumored features and changes planned for the iPhone with iOS 18. iOS 18 will reportedly be the "biggest" update in the iPhone's history, with new ChatGPT-inspired generative AI features, a more customizable Home Screen, and much more....
maxresdefault

Apple Announces 'Let Loose' Event on May 7 Amid Rumors of New iPads

Tuesday April 23, 2024 7:11 am PDT by
Apple has announced it will be holding a special event on Tuesday, May 7 at 7 a.m. Pacific Time (10 a.m. Eastern Time), with a live stream to be available on Apple.com and on YouTube as usual. The event invitation has a tagline of "Let Loose" and shows an artistic render of an Apple Pencil, suggesting that iPads will be a focus of the event. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more ...
Apple Vision Pro Dual Loop Band Orange Feature 2

Apple Cuts Vision Pro Shipments as Demand Falls 'Sharply Beyond Expectations'

Tuesday April 23, 2024 9:44 am PDT by
Apple has dropped the number of Vision Pro units that it plans to ship in 2024, going from an expected 700 to 800k units to just 400k to 450k units, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Orders have been scaled back before the Vision Pro has launched in markets outside of the United States, which Kuo says is a sign that demand in the U.S. has "fallen sharply beyond expectations." As a...
iPad And Calculator App Feature 1

Apple Finally Plans to Release a Calculator App for iPad Later This Year

Tuesday April 23, 2024 9:08 am PDT by
Apple is finally planning a Calculator app for the iPad, over 14 years after launching the device, according to a source familiar with the matter. iPadOS 18 will include a built-in Calculator app for all iPad models that are compatible with the software update, which is expected to be unveiled during the opening keynote of Apple's annual developers conference WWDC on June 10. AppleInsider...
macbook pro purple february

Best Buy Introduces Record Low Prices on Apple's M3 MacBook Pro for Members

Thursday April 25, 2024 7:41 am PDT by
Best Buy is discounting a collection of M3 MacBook Pro computers today, this time focusing on the 14-inch version of the laptop. Every deal in this sale requires you to have a My Best Buy Plus or Total membership, although non-members can still get solid second-best prices on these MacBook Pro models. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Best Buy. When you click a link and make a...