Mobile phone network EE announces 5G switch-on in Swansea

EE has announced it has switched on 5G in 35 new towns and cities across the UK, including Swansea Bay

The mobile phone network has added outdoor 5G coverage to some of the UK’s most popular tourist landmarks, historical sites, and coastal locations as lockdown restrictions start to ease and non-essential retail stores, hospitality venues and attractions begin to reopen this week.

According to VisitEngland’s Great Britain Tourism Survey, more than 122 million domestic overnight trips were taken in Great Britain in 2019, with more than 27 million of those to seaside locations.

Once open in the coming weeks, EE customers can enjoy using 5G technology at:

• Brighton Pier
• Exeter Cathedral
• Norwich Cathedral
• Paignton Sands
• Sandbanks Beach, Poole
• Swansea Maritime Quarter & Swansea Bay
• V&A Museum, Dundee
• York Minster & York Museum Gardens

Residents, businesses, and visitors in 160 UK towns and cities can now benefit from the fast speeds, low latency and increased reliability of EE’s 5G network, with the technology today switched on in:

1. Aldridge
2. Alexandria
3. Aylesbury
4. Ayr
5. Barnsley
6. Biggleswade
7. Blackburn
8. Bolton
9. Brighton
10. Chester
11. Colchester
12. Dundee
13. Exeter
14. Grantham
15. Gravesend
16. Harrogate
17. Lincoln
18. Milton Keynes
19. Norwich
20. Paignton
21. Poole
22. Portsmouth
23. Rickmansworth
24. Runcorn
25. Southport
26. Stockton-on-Tees
27. Stoke-on-Trent
28. Stratford-upon-Avon
29. Sunbury-on-Thames
30. Swansea
31. Swindon
32. Widnes
33. Wigan
34. Worcester
35. York

In addition, EE is set to achieve the milestone of reaching one million active 5G customers –those which have a 5G plan and a 5G-enabled device – this month. London, Birmingham and Manchester are the top three home cities of those using EE’s 5G network, followed by:

• Glasgow
• Bristol
• Nottingham
• Newcastle
• Liverpool
• Leeds
• Leicester

According to independent tests by RootMetrics, EE’s 5G availability is higher than all other networks in the UK’s four capital cities – Belfast, Cardiff, Edinburgh and London. In London, availability on EE is more than double that of the second placed operator, almost four times that of the third placed operator and six times greater than the last placed operator.

Marc Allera, CEO Consumer Division, BT, said: “We’ve announced that we’ve switched on our award-winning 5G network in a further 35 towns and cities across the UK, fulfilling the commitment we set last year to double our 5G place count. With the gradual easing of lockdown restrictions expected in the coming weeks and months, the increased capacity and faster speeds of our 5G network will ensure our customers stay connected as footfall starts to increase in historically busy places.”

EE secured vital new spectrum in the first stage of Ofcom’s 5G auction last month, which will enable EE to expand and enhance its 5G network even further once rolled out into the network.