When is 5G Coming to my Area?
Since the launch of 5G in 2019, mobile operators in the UK have focused on setting up network capacity in urban areas. Over the last three years, this strategy has seen remarkable growth in the number of people who can access this technology. Up to 57% of the UK population now lives under 5G coverage from at least one operator.
However, like the 3G & 4G rollouts, people living in rural areas remain last in the queue to receive 5G. These areas don’t offer as great a return on investment for operators as deploying in densely populated areas where more of their subscribers live.
This article provides a guide to the locations around the UK that already have 5G. EE has 5G coverage in 107 towns and cities, Three in 105, O2 in 81 and Vodafone in 66
You can find an alphabetical list below of all the UK locations with 5G and the network operators present in these locations.
Towns & Cities with 5G:
Aberdeen – EE, Vodafone, Three & O2
Bath – EE & Three
Birmingham - EE, Vodafone, Three & O2
Blackburn - EE, Vodafone, Three & O2
Blackpool - EE, Vodafone, Three & O2
Bolton - EE, Vodafone, Three & O2
Bournemouth - EE, Vodafone, Three & O2
Bradford - EE, Vodafone, Three & O2
Brighton - EE, Three & O2
Bristol - EE, Vodafone, Three & O2
Bromley - EE, Vodafone & Three
Cambridge - EE, Three & O2
Canterbury – EE & Three
Cardiff - EE, Vodafone, Three & O2
Carlisle – EE & Three
Central London - EE, Vodafone, Three & O2
Chelmsford – EE, Three & O2
Chester - EE, Three & O2
Cleveland - Vodafone & O2
Colchester - EE, Three & O2
Coventry - EE, Vodafone, Three & O2
Crewe – EE & Three
Croydon - EE, Vodafone, Three & O2
Darlington – O2
Dartford - EE, Vodafone, Three & O2
Derby - EE, Three & O2
Doncaster - EE, Vodafone, Three & O2
Dudley - EE, Vodafone, Three & O2
Dundee - EE, Vodafone, Three & O2
Durham - EE, Three & O2
East London - EE, Vodafone, Three & O2
Edinburgh - EE, Vodafone, Three & O2
Enfield - EE, Vodafone & Three
Exeter – EE & Three
Falkirk & Stirling – EE &Three
Glasgow - EE, Vodafone, Three & O2
Gloucester - EE, Vodafone, Three & O2
Guildford - EE, Vodafone, Three & O2
Halifax - EE, Three & O2
Harrogate – EE & Three
Harrow - EE, Vodafone & Three
Hemel Hempstead - EE, Three & O2
Hereford – EE & Three
Huddersfield - EE, Vodafone, Three & O2
Hull - EE, Vodafone, Three & O2
Ilford - EE, Vodafone & Three
Inverness - EE, Three & O2
Ipswich - EE, Three & O2
Kilmarnock – EE & Three
Kingston Upon Thames - EE, Vodafone, Three & O2
Kirkcaldy – Three
Lancaster - EE, Vodafone & O2
Leeds - EE, Vodafone, Three & O2
Leicester - EE, Three & O2
Lincoln - EE, Three & O2
Liverpool - EE, Vodafone, Three & O2
Llandudno – Vodafone & O2
Luton - EE, Vodafone, Three & O2
Manchester - EE, Vodafone, Three & O2
Milton Keynes – EE & Three
Motherwell – EE & Three
Newcastle Upon Tyne - EE, Vodafone, Three & O2
Newport - EE, Vodafone & Three
North London - EE, Vodafone, Three & O2
Northwest London - EE, Vodafone, Three & O2
Northampton - EE, Vodafone, Three & O2
Northern Ireland – EE & O2
Norwich - EE, Three & O2
Nottingham – EE, Three & O2
Oldham - EE, Vodafone, Three & O2
Oxford - EE, Three & O2
Paisley - EE, Vodafone & Three
Perth – EE & Three
Peterborough – EE, Three & O2
Plymouth - EE, Vodafone, Three & O2
Portsmouth - EE, Vodafone, Three & O2
Preston – EE & Three
Reading - EE, Vodafone, Three & O2
Redhill - EE, Vodafone, Three & O2
Rochester - EE, Three & O2
Romford – EE, Three & O2
Salisbury – EE
Sheffield - EE, Vodafone, Three & O2
Shrewsbury – EE & Three
Slough - EE, Vodafone, Three & O2
Southeast London - EE, Vodafone, Three & O2
Southwest London - EE, Vodafone, Three & O2
Southall - EE, Vodafone, Three & O2
Southampton - EE, Vodafone, Three & O2
Southend - EE, Vodafone, Three & O2
St Albans - EE, Vodafone, Three & O2
Stevenage - EE, Three & O2
Stockport - EE, Vodafone & O2
Stoke-on-Trent - EE, Vodafone, Three & O2
Sunderland - EE, Vodafone & O2
Sutton - EE, Vodafone & O2
Swansea - EE, Vodafone, Three & O2
Swindon - EE, Vodafone, Three & O2
Taunton – EE & Three
Telford – Three
Tonbridge – Three
Torquay – Three
Truro – EE & Three
Twickenham - EE, Vodafone, Three & O2
Wakefield - EE, Three & O2
Walsall – EE & Three
Warrington - EE, Vodafone, Three & O2
Watford - EE, Vodafone, Three & O2
West London - EE, Vodafone, Three & O2
Wigan - EE, Vodafone & Three
Wolverhampton - EE, Vodafone, Three & O2
Worcester – EE & Three
York - EE, Vodafone, Three & O2
If the place you live is absent, 5G is unlikely to be available to you yet. The list is accurate as of August 2022.
Just because an operator states that they have 5G in a city, doesn’t necessarily mean they have city-wide coverage.
When is the 5G rollout expected to be completed?
The rollout of 5g will continue, and the network is expected to overtake 4G in prominence by 2025.
EE and Three have committed to delivering full nationwide 5G coverage by 2028. While O2 hasn’t publicly stated when they intend to cover the whole of the UK, they have committed to achieving 50% population coverage by 2023.
Simultaneously to 5G expansion, the legacy 2G and 3G networks will be turned off to improve network security and refarm spectrum for 5G usage. You can find a guide to the 3G switch-off dates here and a guide to the 2G switch-off here.
What is 5G?
5G stands for ‘fifth generation mobile network’.
5G services its users to experience download and upload speeds up to 100 times quicker than 4G networks (its predecessor). These faster speeds allow users to do things like download an entire HD movie in under a minute.
It also delivers better latency (the time it takes for a network to respond to a request). This is important for use cases like real-time gaming and virtual reality experiences.
Finally, 5G plans offer greater network capacity to users. This means you are less likely to lose connection at events with large amounts of people (like music festivals or sports games).
How Many People Use 5G?
According to the communications regulator Ofcom, 5G phones grew from 800,000 in 2020 to 6 million in 2021. These phones now represent around 10% of handsets connecting to mobile networks.
However, while 10% of people have 5G devices, only 3% of mobile connections are done using the 5G networks. The users of these handsets still rely predominantly on the pre-existing 2G, 3G and 4G networks.
What is Streetwave?
At Streetwave, we provide performance and coverage maps of the 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G networks. You can understand 5G speeds in your living and working areas. Understand whether the mobile networks you depend upon allow you to send emails, browse the internet, stream in HD or perform video calls.
