EE pushes on with 5G SA rollout

Having launched the upgraded network in early September – more than a year after rival Vodafone and more than six months after Virgin Media O2 (VMO2) – EE is clearly keen to make up for lost time by going further faster.

Indeed, as everyone who follows UK telecoms knows, EE was the first operator in the country to launch 4G, and followed that up by being the first to offer 5G. It was therefore slightly unusual for it to be beaten to the punch with standalone, given its storied history of differentiating on its network.

As can be seen from the handy map, the new coverage areas are – with a few exceptions – clustered around the 15 launch locations, which makes logical sense. They include popular tourist destinations, commuter towns, industrial centres and commercial areas.

EE has pledged to achieve 95% outdoor coverage in every location on the list (see below). That means once these early deployment phases are complete, its 5G SA network will cover approximately 21 million people.

That should put it ahead of Vodafone's 5G SA service – called Ultra – which is listed as being available in London, Manchester, Glasgow and Cardiff, as well as a growing number of unspecified locations across the UK, according to its website. For its part, VMO2 launched standalone in 14 major conurbations in February, pledging to add more locations to its footprint throughout the year with the aim of covering all populated areas by 2030.

However, the biggest difference between EE's 5G SA service and those of its rivals is on price. Whereas Voda and VMO2 are happy to give away standalone at no extra cost, EE clearly feels confident it offers a premium experience and therefore expects customers to pay a premium to access it.

It's a bold move, and all the while EE's 5G SA network offers the best coverage, it might just pay off. However, as other networks catch up, it might struggle to convince customers to cough up.

Indeed, while it's encouraging to see an operator attempting to increase revenue from bread-and-butter connectivity services, it's beginning to look like 5G SA is not going to solve the industry's growth problem.

Full list of locations where EE's 5G SA will be available by the end of the year: Ashton-Under-Lyne, Barrow-in-Furness, Barry, Bath, Belfast, Birkenhead, Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, Bury, Cardiff, Coventry, Dudley, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Hull, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Newport, Nottingham, Sheffield, St Helens, Stockport, Swansea, Weston Super Mare, Wigan, Wolverhampton.