EE to launch UK's first 5G network on May 30

While 5G networks are already available in many parts of North America and in Asia, Europe is starting to play catch up. Swisscom has led the charge with the first 5G deployment on April 17 in Switzerland, and now it's finally time for eager UK consumers to get their 5G fix thanks to EE, and shortly afterward, Vodafone.

Which UK cities are getting 5G coverage?

On May 30, EE will make its 5G network available in six cities: London, Manchester, Birmingham, Cardiff, Edinburgh, and Belfast. Ten more cities will be added in 2019: Bristol, Coventry, Leicester, Nottingham, Sheffield, Liverpool, Hull, Leeds, Newcastle and Glasgow.

Vodafone, on the other hand, will launch on July 3, in seven cities: London, Manchester, Birmingham, and Cardiff (just like EE), plus Liverpool, Bristol and Glasgow. Then it will hit more cities later on this year: Birkenhead, Blackpool, Bournemouth, Guildford, Newbury, Portsmouth, Plymouth, Reading, Southampton, Stoke-on-Trent, Warrington and Wolverhampton.

5GEE will be switched on in London, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Belfast, Birmingham and Manchester on Thursday, May 30.

And we’ll be adding more than 100 new 5G sites to our network every month, with ten more cities getting #5GEE by the end of 2019. pic.twitter.com/IZdoYvqJRx

— EE (@EE) May 22, 2019

Thinking of making the switch to EE or Vodafone for 5G?

With EE, 5G plan prices start at £54 per month for 10GB of data, while SIM-only plans start at £32 per month for 20GB. You can already LG V50 ThinQ. With Vodafone, you can order the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G for as low as £58 per month (for 5GB of data and £149 upfront) or the Xiaomi Mi MIX 3 5G for as low as £50 per month (for 5GB data and £99 upfront).

Of course, 5G coverage will vary within each city, so you'll want to check out EE's coverage map here and/or Vodafone's coverage map here before signing up for a new mobile plan.

Would you switch to a new carrier or pay extra for a 5G plan? Let us know in the comments!

Source: The Verge