Advanced Television

Three launching UK 5G network in August

June 10, 2019

Following successful trials with customers in London, Three UK has confirmed it will launch 5G in August with a 5G home broadband service in London. Three then intends to launch both mobile and home broadband offerings in 25 towns and cities across the UK before the end of the year.

The move ollows EE which launched its 5G network last month.

Network improvements are being carried out across the busiest areas of the UK, including London, Cardiff, Glasgow, Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool, as part of Three’s £2 billion 5G infrastructure investment commitment which includes a new 5G-ready world first cloud core network provided by Nokia.

Three says has more than twice as much 5G spectrum as its closest competitor, which will deliver significantly faster speeds for its customers.  Three claims it is also the only operator who can offer a ‘true’ 5G experience which requires 100MHz of 5G spectrum, as set out by the ITU, the global standards body on 5G technology.

Over the next three years, Three’s 5G rollout will continue to ramp up to cover 80 per cent of its network traffic. The network investment programme also includes upgrades within Three’s 4G network, expected to deliver up to 400 per cent improvements in speed and capacity. This will be achieved through deploying more 4G spectrum, converting 3G spectrum to 4G and using advanced antenna technology.

Dave Dyson, CEO at Three, said: “It’s clear that consumers and businesses want more and more data.  We have the UK’s best network for data and we have led the market on customer usage on both 3G and 4G technologies. We have worked hard over a long period of time to be able to offer the best end to end 5G experience. 5G is a game changer for Three, and of course I am excited that we will be the only operator in the UK who can offer true 5G.”

Three will be announcing more details and pricing in July.

Categories: 5G, Articles, Broadband, MNO, Mobile