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An Overview of British 5G Coverage in 2024

Published: 15th April 2024 10:10

 

Starting in 2019, the 5G rollout has been making steady progress in the intervening years. It promises faster speeds and support for smart technology but requires more infrastructure than its 4G predecessors. Today, it’s possible to get 5G at most urban centres from one of Britain’s big networks, though there are still blind spots in rural areas.

Source: Pexels

The Benefits of 5G

5G has many advantages over 4G, though everyone’s experience will differ depending on their local area. It’s main, undeniable advantage is significantly improved speeds. Improving speeds make the internet more accessible and convenient to use. This will become important in the future, as digital work and entertainment platforms become even more popular.

The internet is also a treasure trove of information, so making it available everywhere, at faster speeds, benefits people from all walks of life. Everything from academic publications to how-to guides are available online, including cooking tutorials or iGaming guides. Using the internet, users can quickly learn a new recipe or get tips on the best roulette numbers to play, and ask any other burning questions that they need answered. As the tools we use online become more advanced, and the file sizes of uploads/downloads balloon, a faster internet connection becomes a basic requirement for engaging with digital media.

The numbers for 5G vary greatly. Working at its best, 5G can offer the average Brit approximately 250 Mbps and sub-5 millisecond latency, while 4G tops out near 180 Mbps with 60 millisecond latencies. That makes 5G noticeably faster than its predecessors, but it promises more advanced use cases too. One of its main selling points is its versatility which enables connectivity at a wider scale. In practice, that means it’s better at supporting smart homes and Internet of Things (IoT) applications. In the UK, three-quarters of homes have a smart appliance, but fully-fledged smart homes are still few and far between.

5G Accessibility in the UK

So, not everyone can access 5G’s best benefits, and infrastructural rollout has been sluggish in recent years. Fortunately, the UK’s largest mobile network operators (MNOs) have committed to delivering 5G wherever it’s possible. Those MNOs are EE, Three, O2 and Vodafone.

EE Coverage

EE is the largest MNO in the UK, so has made the most progress with 5G as a result. It covers 114 of the UK’s 120 major towns and cities as of 2024, so it’s a safe assumption that your area is covered if they aren’t one of these exceptions:

• Kirkwall
• Lerwick
• Llandrindod Wells
• Llandudno
• Outer Hebrides
• Tonbridge

Three Coverage

Three covers 111 of those 120 locations instead. The nine notable exceptions are:

• Darlington
• Dorchester
• Dumfries & Galloway
• Galashiels
• Kirkwall
• Lerwick
• Llandrindod Wells
• Llandudno
• Outer Hebrides

O2 Coverage

O2 covers 93 of those 120 locations, with these being the exceptions:

• Bath
• Carlisle
• Crewe
• Dorchester
• Dumfries & Galloway
• Exeter
• Galashiels
• Hereford
• Kilmarnock
• Kirkwall
• Lerwick
• Llandrindod Wells
• Motherwell
• Newport
• Outer Hebrides
• Paisley
• Preston
• Salisbury
• Shrewsbury
• Taunton
• Telford
• Tonbridge
• Torquay
• Truro
• Walsall
• Wigan
• Worcester

Vodafone Coverage

Vodafone covers 92 of those 120 locations – these are the exceptions:

• Bath
• Brighton
• Cambridge
• Canterbury
• Chelmsford
• Chester
• Colchester
• Crewe
• Dorchester
• Exeter
• Galashiels
• Harrogate
• Hereford
• Inverness
• Ipswich
• Kirkwall
• Lerwick
• Lincoln
• Llandrindod Wells
• Norwich
• Outer Hebrides
• Perth
• Peterborough
• Shrewsbury
• Taunton
• Telford
• Truro
• Worcester

MNOs Request Government Support

These four leading MNOs have now requested additional support from the government, to help make fully accessible 5G a reality. This comes after a report commissioned by the trade association Mobile UK, which found that the £2 billion a year pumped into telecom infrastructure may not meet the government’s ambition of widespread 5G by 2030.

This infrastructural gap is due to how 5G works on a fundamental level. It uses higher frequencies like 30 gigahertz, much higher than 4G’s 6 gigahertz. High frequencies are great for transmitting a lot of data quickly, but they don’t travel as far. That means pre-existing 3G/4G infrastructure can’t be used to support the new 5G infrastructure, especially in the countryside where the landscape is interrupted by hills and valleys. As 2030 approaches, only time will tell if the areas lacking in 5G will get the support they need.

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