Vodafone to Switch on UK's First 5G Network on July 3, 2019

[MacRumors]

Vodafone on Tuesday said it will switch on its 5G network in the United Kingdom on July 3, 2019, making it the first carrier to announce a firm date for the launch of the next-generation cellular technology in the country.

Seven cities will get 5G coverage at launch, including Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Glasgow, Manchester, Liverpool and London. The rollout will extend by the end of the year to Birkenhead, Blackpool, Bournemouth, Guildford, Newbury, Portsmouth, Plymouth, Reading, Southampton, Stoke-on-Trent, Warrington and Wolverhampton.

In a press release on its site, Vodafone said it will price 5G the same as 4G for both consumers and business customers, while a choice of 5G smartphones will be available to buy online or in Vodafone stores over the summer. They will include the Xiaomi Mi MIX 3 5G, the Samsung S10 5G and Huawei Mate 20 X (5G), and the Huawei Mate X (5G).

The company will also offer a 5G router for use in the home and office to give customers without a fixed line connection high-speed broadband access. Vodafone said it will also offer 5G roaming in the UK, Germany, Italy and Spain over the summer.

Vodafone UK CEO Nick Jeffery said: "We started our 5G journey more than three years ago. We led the way in setting 5G standards to ensure phones and networks work well together. We upgraded our masts to be able to take 5G without disruption. And we were the first UK company to test 5G over our all-fibre core fixed and mobile network.

"This is important. It means we can today announce the largest launch of 5G in the UK and be the first to announce 5G roaming. It means that UK businesses can lead the world in adopting 5G to boost productivity and attract investment. It means consumers can get the fastest mobile speeds ever, and it means that our public sector will be able to adopt new services to improve healthcare, social services and housing."

Multiple rumors dating back months have suggested Apple is going to launch a 5G iPhone in 2020, which means the 2019 iPhones will continue to use 4G.

There were questions about whether Apple would be able to acquire 5G chips for its 2020 devices following its dispute with Qualcomm, however that litigation has been cleared up, making a 5G iPhone in 2020 a real prospect.

Apple won't be prepared to launch 5G iPhones in 2019 and can't afford to wait until 2021, with competitors already launching 5G smartphones, therefore 2020 is almost certainly the year 5G will come to iPhone.

Article Link: Vodafone to Switch on UK's First 5G Network on July 3, 2019

 

[The Game 161]

Least it’s priced the same...but wonder if my carrier EE will do the same.

Won’t matter much though until 2020 as iPhones won’t have it til then anyway

 

[martyjmclean]

Lucky them. Vodafone AU haven't even announced they will have a 5G network, they barley have a 4G one.

July 3, 2019

I'm sure they actually said "3rd July, 2019".

 

[bgraham]

Same price is a massive surprise. Great news!

I long for the day when Apple is actually ahead of the competition again. I want to upgrade my iPhone this year, but not even having 5G for years when it’s launching in my city in 2 months would just be sad

 

[Veinticinco]

Vodafone UK ahead of the game for once, although the Huawei 5G controversy won’t go away anytime soon.

 

[azdolan]

Vodafone is such an awful carrier (voted worst carrier for the 8th consecutive year in the UK) so I wish those people using their 5G network good luck

 

[scottct1]

Since the official 5G spec is not being released until September of next year, what 5G are they using?

 

[Veinticinco]

Vodafone is such an awful carrier (voted worst carrier for the 8th consecutive year in the UK) so I wish those people using their 5G network good luck

That’s for customer service though isn’t it? Like banks, when choosing network carriers sadly it’s still pretty much a case of the best of the worst.

 

[joueboy]

Why bother when Apple can just add that 5G showing on your phone through update it works like magic.

 

[2ilent8cho]

Maybe they should sort out their billing platform before going for 5G, they are a joke of a network customer service wise.

 

[apolloa]

Pointless... the same old story of ignoring pushing 3G or 4G coverage to all the country. And instead just making it faster for the select few...

And before people say well the cities will always get better coverage, go and compare the physical size of the UK to the US.... and then remember we are the fifth biggest global economy...

It’s sad really.

 

[69Mustang]

/reads statement from Vodafone's CEO
/shakes head
"That's too much work. Just relabel our service and call it a day"
-Randall Stephenson, CEO AT&T

 

[H2SO4]

Vodafone is such an awful carrier (voted worst carrier for the 8th consecutive year in the UK) so I wish those people using their 5G network good luck

I always found that they had the best coverage though. Most businesses that I deal with seem to all use them.

 

[and 1989 others]

2 issues with 5G,

One, how much more power will it need to service the whole nation compared to 4G.

Current 4G (for me at least) can download at 75Mbs, do I really need anymore? And will it work better in those hard to reach places like current systems.

 

[Steve121178]

Vodafone UK ahead of the game for once, although the Huawei 5G controversy won’t go away anytime soon.

To the educated person, there's nothing controversial about it.

The UK Government is a US Government lap dog & has been ordered to spread FUD about Chinese vendors. The media lapped it up & say everything Chinese is bad.

 

[Kabeyun]

Same price is a massive surprise. Great news!

I long for the day when Apple is actually ahead of the competition again. I want to upgrade my iPhone this year, but not even having 5G for years when it’s launching in my city in 2 months would just be sad

Sad for you. Not sad for the rest of the country outside your city and the few other cities where it’s rolling out.

And even then we’ll see how well 5G works indoors. mm waves don’t do that well even blocked by wood.

And what’s with “years”? Apple will have QC’s 5G integrated modem next year.

 

[David1964]

My city, Brighton,will probably be the last to get it as usual!

 

[Steve121178]

And even then we’ll see how well 5G works indoors. mm waves don’t do that well even blocked by wood.

5G works fine indoors. Good 5G coverage requires networks to deploy more base stations, which networks have been installing for years in towns & cities as part of their 4G roll-out.

Networks can upgrade 4G base stations to 5G easily so the roll-out to 5G should be vastly more efficient than the transition from 3G to 4G.

 

[ph001bi]

Vodafone is such an awful carrier (voted worst carrier for the 8th consecutive year in the UK) so I wish those people using their 5G network good luck

Maybe that's what they mean by 5G. Five times the pain.

 

[GaryMumford]

To the educated person, there's nothing controversial about it.

The UK Government is a US Government lap dog & has been ordered to spread FUD about Chinese vendors. The media lapped it up & say everything Chinese is bad.

We all know not everything Chinese is bad... Their King Prawn curry and ribs are delicious

 

[M.PaulCezanne]

Brings to mind an article I read last week at Bloomberg news, “Vodafone Found Hidden Backdoors in Huawei Equipment.” And yet, Vodafone’s CEO publicly opposes bans on Huawei 5G equipment, warning of “higher costs and delays.” We know where their priorities lie.

 

[Steve121178]

Those votes mean nothing. Doesn't EE win the best network award every year but still doesn't offer anywhere near nationwide coverage?

I have personal contacts with EE & Vodafone. I find Vodafone to be consistently excellent. I personally get great coverage wherever I go & Vodafone Global Roaming is a godsend and saved me £1000's.

Vodafone's UK 3G network was patchy but they spent billions of buying up large amounts of the 4G & 5G spectrum so I have no doubt Vodafone 5G will be decent.

 

[GadgetBen]

I always found that they had the best coverage though. Most businesses that I deal with seem to all use them.

Yep, they have the best coverage. I work in the Countryside and 4G is perfect, actually better speeds than WIFI.

 

[BvizioN]

Why bother when Apple can just add that 5G showing on your phone through update it works like magic.

That's not Apple who did that, it was carriers. Do your reserach.

 

[Kabeyun]

5G works fine indoors. Good 5G coverage requires networks to deploy more base stations, which networks have been installing for years in towns & cities as part of their 4G roll-out.

Networks can upgrade 4G base stations to 5G easily so the roll-out to 5G should be vastly more efficient than the transition from 3G to 4G.

The upgrade doesn’t seem easy, nor vastly more efficient. What data are you aware of that makes you say it will be easy? I’m reading that they’ll even need to put up more towers to get the same coverage because 5G frequencies won’t travel as far. Your finger-snap to 5G everywhere idea doesn’t seem to align with reality.

5G has the potential to be much faster than LTE because it has new network technologies and relies on very high-frequency signals, but that comes with some drawbacks. AT&T, Verizon, and other carriers are beginning their 5G rollouts with signals called millimeter wave (or mmWave). These frequencies are between 10 and 100 times higher than 4G LTE. Although the signal has a lot of room for data, millimeter waves don’t pass through obstacles very well — even your hand can completely block a 5G signal.

Even if 5G phones in 2019 were worth buying, the networks would not be ready. Carriers will need to build a lot of expensive infrastructure to support 5G. Because the signals are so easily disrupted, carriers can’t just upgrade existing cell sites that currently house LTE antennas. A 5G network needs more towers to cover the same areas under the LTE umbrella right now, and lower frequencies — which will be able to go through obstacles and inside buildings — won’t come to most carriers until 2020 or 2021.

Each carrier has a list of several dozen cities that will get 5G coverage of some sort this year, but that coverage will work only outdoors at first because walls block millimeter wave signals. Large venues such as stadiums and convention centers may get indoor 5G networks in a year or two, but your house and office will need special devices to bring the 5G signal indoors, and they aren’t likely to get those devices anytime soon.
​

And to your other concern, as I said, Apple will have a QC-enabled 5G iPhone next year.