U.K. carrier Vodafone has announced it will launch its 5G network on July 3, 2019, making it the first provider in the country to offer 5G coverage.
Seven cities: Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Glasgow, Manchester, Liverpool and London are due to get 5G coverage at launch, with the company planning to continue the rollout to cover Birkenhead, Blackpool, Bournemouth, Guildford, Newbury, Portsmouth, Plymouth, Reading, Southampton, Stoke-on-Trent, Warrington and Wolverhampton by the end of the year.
Within a press release shared on Tuesday, Vodafone said it will price 5G the same as 4G for both consumers and business customers, with a selection of 5G smartphones such as the Xiaomi Mi MIX 3 5G, the Samsung S10 5G and Huawei Mate 20 X (5G), and the Huawei Mate X (5G) becoming available to purchase over the summer.
“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,” said Vodafone UK CEO Nick Jeffery.
“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.”
According to reports, iPhone will adopt 5G technology in 2020.