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5G Coverage: Where is 5G available and when will it come to your area?

5G coverage. What coverage is in my area.

5G has launched in a number of places here in the UK, but as with previous generations of the technology (namely 3G and 4G), actual 5G coverage is limited mostly to parts of select towns and cities. The roll out of 5G is gaining traction though, and the main question on everyone's mind is when does 5G come to my area?

The good news is that 5G is already available in 22 major towns and cities via at least one mobile operator. More towns and cities are confirmed to be getting 5G before the end of 2019 and some mobile networks have even confirmed some of their 2020 5G launch locations.

In this article we will run you through everything you need to know about 5G coverage in your area.

Contents 5G coverage overview Areas with 5G coverage right now Areas getting 5G coverage in 2019/2020 Areas with no confirmed 5G launch dates When will MVNOs launch 5G?

5G coverage overview

EE became the first mobile operator to launch 5G in the UK. That was back in May, 2019, and since then we've seen Vodafone, O2 and Three launch their own 5G services, along with some MVNOs (discussed below).

Network	5G Launch Date	5G Cities
	May 2019	9
	July 2019	16
	August 2019	1
	October 2019	6
MVNOs	5G Launch Date	5G Cities
	October, 2019	9
	October, 2019	16

Areas with 5G coverage right now

There are currently 22 major towns and cities in the UK with 5G coverage on at least one mobile network.

EE 5G coverage is currently available in 9 major locations (plus numerous smaller ones), Vodafone 5G is in 16 locations (plus a number of smaller ones), O2 is in 6, and Three is offering 5G Home Broadband in London. The major 5G locations are listed below.

City	EE	Vodafone	Three	O2
Coverage checker	Check Coverage	Check Coverage	Check Coverage	Check Coverage
Belfast	✔	-	-	✔
Birkenhead	-	✔	-	Summer 2020
Birmingham	✔	✔	End of 2019	Summer 2020
Bristol	✔	✔	End of 2019	End of 2019
Bolton	-	✔	End of 2019	-
Cardiff	✔	✔	End of 2019	✔
Coventry	✔	-	End of 2019	End of 2019
Edinburgh	✔	-	End of 2019	✔
Gatwick	-	✔	-	-
Glasgow	End of 2019	✔	End of 2019	Summer 2020
Lancaster	-	✔	-	-
Leeds	End of 2019	-	End of 2019	✔
Leicester	✔	-	End of 2019	End of 2019
Liverpool	End of 2019	✔	End of 2019	Summer 2020
London	✔	✔	✔	✔
Manchester	✔	✔	End of 2019	Summer 2020
Newbury	-	✔	-	Summer 2020
Plymouth	2020	✔	-	Summer 2020
Slough	-	-	End of 2019	✔
Stoke-on-Trent	-	✔	-	End of 2019
Warrington	-	✔	-	Summer 2020
Wolverhampton	2020	✔	End of 2019	Summer 2020

It should be noted that when a mobile operator states that 5G coverage is available in a city such as Manchester, it does not mean that Manchester has city-wide coverage - more likely it will be limited to the most heavily populated or trafficked areas. This will change in time.

To check out which areas of the above cities have 5G coverage right now you can use the coverage checkers above or find out via our individual coverage pages below:

Areas getting 5G coverage in 2019/2020

5G coverage will roll out to at least a further 21 major towns and cities on at least one network before the end of 2019, while another 8 locations will be added by Summer 2020. You can see these below.

Town/City	EE	Vodafone	Three	O2
Aberdeen	2020	-	-	Summer 2020
Blackpool	-	End of 2019	-	End of 2019
Bradford	-	-	End of 2019	Summer 2020
Brighton	-	-	End of 2019	Summer 2020
Bournemouth	-	End of 2019	-	End of 2019
Cambridge	2020	-	-	Summer 2020
Derby	2020	-	End of 2019	End of 2019
Eton	-	-	-	End of 2019
Gloucester	2020	-	-	-
Guilford	-	End of 2019	-	End of 2019
Hove	-	-	-	Summer 2020
Hull	End of 2019	-	End of 2019	-
Lisburn	-	-	-	End of 2019
Luton	-	-	-	Summer 2020
Middlesbrough	-	-	End of 2019	-
Milton Keynes	-	-	End of 2019	Summer 2020
Newcastle	End of 2019	-	-	Summer 2020
Northampton	-	-	-	Summer 2020
Nottingham	End of 2019		End of 2019	End of 2019
Norwich	-	-	-	End of 2019
Peterborough	2020	-	-	-
Portsmouth	2020	End of 2019	-	Summer 2020
Reading	-	End of 2019	End of 2019	End of 2019
Rotherham	-	-	End of 2019	-
Sheffield	End of 2019	-	End of 2019	Summer 2020
Southampton	2020	End of 2019	-	Summer 2020
Sunderland	-	-	End of 2019	Summer 2020
Windsor	-	-	-	End of 2019
Worcester	2020	-	-	-

Areas with no confirmed 5G launch dates

If your town or city is not listed in either of the sections above then check our full coverage pages for each individual network, as these also include smaller locations due to get 5G. If there’s no sign of your town or city there though, then at the time of writing there is no information available on when 5G will come to your area on any of the UK's networks.

When will MVNOs launch 5G?

Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) don't own their own physical network and instead use one of the UK's core networks (EE, O2, Three and Vodafone) to provide their service. Therefore, they are reliant on the core networks allowing them to provide 5G to their customers.

So far BT and VOXI have already launched a 5G service, while Sky Mobile plans to launch before the end of 2019, and Smarty has announced it will be offering 5G at some point in the future.

		Asda Mobile 5G Coverage Asda Mobile hasn’t so far announced any 5G plans. If and when it launches 5G it should have coverage in the same places as EE.
		BT 5G Coverage BT has launched 5G in parts of Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Coventry, Edinburgh, Leicester, London and Manchester, plus numerous smaller locations, with more roll out plans announced.
		FreedomPop 5G Coverage FreedomPop hasn’t said if or when it will launch a 5G service, but it will likely have coverage in the same places as Three if or when it does, as that’s its network partner.
		Giffgaff 5G Coverage Giffgaff hasn’t yet spoken about 5G, but as an O2 MVNO it should have coverage in the same places as that network if and when it launches 5G.
		iD Mobile 5G Coverage As a Three MVNO, iD Mobile will be reliant on that network's coverage if and when it launches 5G, but iD Mobile hasn't yet outlined its 5G plans.
		Lycamobile 5G Coverage Lycamobile hasn't said anything about its 5G plans yet, but it should have the same coverage as O2 if and when it does launch 5G.
		Plusnet Mobile 5G Coverage Plusnet Mobile is owned by BT, so it will offer the same 5G coverage as that network (and EE) if and when it rolls out 5G, but so far it hasn't announced any 5G plans.
		SMARTY Mobile 5G Coverage SMARTY Mobile has confirmed that it will be offering 5G but has not yet said when. However, we know that it will presumably have coverage in the same places as Three, since it uses that network's infrastructure. That means coverage in parts of London at a minimum, but Three has 24 other launch locations scheduled.
		Sky Mobile 5G Coverage Sky Mobile has announced that it will launch 5G by November. When it does, it will use O2's infrastructure, so its coverage should be the same. That means you can expect 5G coverage in Belfast, Cardiff, Edinburgh, London, Slough and Leeds at a minimum, but O2 has another 44 scheduled launch locations.
		Tesco Mobile 5G Coverage Tesco Mobile hasn't yet announced its 5G plans, but it is currently partnered with O2, so expect the same 5G coverage if and when it launches on Tesco.
		Virgin Mobile 5G Coverage Virgin Mobile hasn't outlined its 5G plans yet, but it will likely share EE's 5G coverage if and when it starts offering 5G.
		VOXI 5G Coverage VOXI has now launched a 5G service. As it's a Vodafone MVNO it has 5G coverage in the same 30 locations, including 16 major towns and cities, with at least 6 more places set to get 5G by the end of 2019. It also offers 5G roaming.