UK's first 5G trial set to launch

WikiTribune






The largest mobile network operator in the UK is launching the country’s first 5G (generation) mobile network trial in October. http://ow.ly/4rVI30m6Wgw













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UK's first 5G trial set to launch


Latest network iteration will enable much faster mobile data download and upload speeds

The largest mobile network operator in the UK is launching the country’s first 5G (generation) mobile network trial in October, in East London. Users and select businesses in 10 London sites will be provided with beta 5G broadband devices according to mobile company EE, as current phones can’t utilize 5G networks. 

When the fifth generation launches it will enable much faster mobile data download and upload speeds. To date, a new generation mobile network has appeared roughly every 10 years to keep up with growing demand.

“Over the coming few months we’re going to hear many people who are launching or testing 5G networks,” professor of electronic and electrical engineering at UCL, Izzat Darwazeh, told WikiTribune. But “none of these will be a proper 5G network.” 

Three companies have claimed to launch the world’s first 5G network: Qatar’s Ooredoo, Finland’s Elisa and Australia’s Telstra. But “we are still seeing much slower speeds than 5G is expected to deliver,” professor of cyber security at Ulster University, Kevin Curran, told WikiTribune. “These are not 5G networks but rather a 5G implementation of a 4G network.”

There is only one device, produced by Motorola, which can pick up 5G signals in America, according to Matthew Higgins, associate professor of energy and electrical systems at Warwick University.

Most countries are unlikely to launch 5G networks before 2020. “The next big push will probably happen around the 2020 Olympics,” Higgins told WikiTribune.

Marc Allera, chief executive of EE, said 5G will be ready for consumers by June 2019, but a UK rollout of 5G mobile networks isn’t expected until 2020 according to the government’s5G strategy.