5G Coverage Map Checker

Networks that have launched 5G in the UK

5G Coverage and Rollout

5G has launched in a large number of places here in the UK, but as with the early days of 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, with some networks now at well over 50% UK population coverage, 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 113 major towns and cities via at least one mobile operator, and coverage is expected to rapidly improve.

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

5G coverage map 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 many MVNOs (discussed below).

Network

5G Launch Date

Major Towns and Cities with 5G

EE Network

May, 2019

107

Vodafone Network

July 2019

70

Three Network

February, 2020

106

O2 Network

October 2019

88

BT Mobile

October, 2019

107

Sky Mobile 5G

January, 2020

88

Tesco Mobile 5G

March, 2020

88

October, 2019

70

Giffgaff 5G

October,2020

88

Virgin Mobile 5G

January, 2021

70/88

ASDA Mobile 5G

April, 2021

70

iD Mobile 5G

May, 2021

106

Lebara Mobile

August, 2021

70

CMLink

October, 2021

107

Lyca Mobile 5G

December, 2021

88

Smarty 5G

January, 2022

106

Talkmobile

2022

70

Areas with 5G coverage right now

We track 5G coverage in 120 major towns and cities across the UK, and the majority of them have 5G from at least one network now, as the chart below shows.

Town/City

EE

+BT +CMLink

Vodafone

+ASDA +VOXI +Virgin +Lebara +Talkmobile

Three

+ iD Mobile +SMARTY

O2

+Sky +Tesco +Giffgaff +Lyca

Aberdeen

Bath

Birmingham

Blackburn

Blackpool

Bolton

Bournemouth

Bradford

Brighton

Bristol

Bromley

Cambridge

Canterbury

Cardiff

Carlisle

Central London

Chelmsford

Chester

Cleveland

Colchester

Coventry

Crewe

Croydon

Darlington

Dartford

Derby

Doncaster

Dorchester

Dudley

Dumfries and Galloway

Dundee

Durham

East London

Edinburgh

Enfield

Exeter

Falkirk and Stirling

Galashiels

Glasgow

Gloucester

Guildford

Halifax

Harrogate

Harrow

Hemel Hempstead

Hereford

Huddersfield

Hull

Ilford

Inverness

Ipswich

Kilmarnock

Kingston upon Thames

Kirkcaldy

Kirkwall

Lancaster

Leeds

Leicester

Lerwick

Lincoln

Liverpool

Llandrindod Wells

Llandudno

Luton

Manchester

Milton Keynes

Motherwell

Newcastle upon Tyne

Newport

North London

North West London

Northampton

Northern Ireland

Norwich

Nottingham

Oldham

Outer Hebrides

Oxford

Paisley

Perth

Peterborough

Plymouth

Portsmouth

Preston

Reading

Redhill

Rochester

Romford

Salisbury

Sheffield

Shrewsbury

Slough

South East London

South West London

Southall

Southampton

Southend-on-Sea

St Albans

Stevenage

Stockport

Stoke-on-Trent

Sunderland

Sutton

Swansea

Swindon

Taunton

Telford

Tonbridge

Torquay

Truro

Twickenham

Wakefield

Walsall

Warrington

Watford

West London

Wigan

Wolverhampton

Worcester

York

EE 5G coverage is currently available in 107 major locations (plus numerous smaller ones), Vodafone 5G is in 70 locations (plus a number of smaller ones), O2 is in 88, and Three is in 106.  

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:

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, VOXI, Tesco Mobile, Giffgaff, Virgin Mobile, iD Mobile, Lebara, Asda Mobile, Lyca Mobile, CMLink, Smarty Talkmobile and Sky Mobile have already launched a 5G service.

ASDA Mobile Network

Asda Mobile 5G Coverage

Asda Mobile launched 5G in April, 2021. It offers coverage in the same places as Vodafone.

BT Mobile Network

BT 5G Coverage

BT has launched 5G in the same selection of locations as EE.

CMLink MVNO of EE  

CMLink 5G Coverage

CMLink has launched 5G in the same selection of locations as EE.

Freedompop 5G Coverage

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 5G Coverage

Giffgaff launched 5G in October, 2020, as an MVNO of O2.

ID Mobile 5G coverage

iD Mobile 5G Coverage

iD Mobile launched 5G in May, 2021, as an MVNO of Three.

Lebara Mobile

Lebara Mobile 5G Coverage

Lebara Mobile launched 5G in August, 2021, as an MVNO of Vodafone.

Lyca mobile 5G coverage

Lyca Mobile 5G Coverage

Lyca Mobile launched 5G in December, 2021 and has the same coverage as O2.

plusnet 5G coverage

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 5G coverage

SMARTY Mobile 5G Coverage

SMARTY Mobile launched 5G in January, 2022 and has the same coverage as Three UK.

talkmobile

Talkmobile 5G Coverage

Talkmobile is a Vodafone MVNO, so it offers 5G in all the same places.

Sky Mobile 5G coverage

Sky Mobile 5G Coverage

Sky Mobile has now launched its 5G service. It uses O2's infrastructure and spectrum, so its coverage is the same.

Tesco Mobile 5G coverage

Tesco Mobile 5G Coverage

Tesco Mobile launched 5G on 3rd March, 2020. It uses the O2 mobile network so it offers 5G coverage in the exact same areas as O2.

Virgin Mobile 5G coverage

Virgin Mobile 5G Coverage

Virgin Mobile started offering 5G in January, 2021 in the same places as Vodafone. However, while existing customers still mostly use Vodafone’s coverage, new customers will be using O2’s 5G coverage.

VOXI 5G coverage

VOXI 5G Coverage

VOXI has launched a 5G service. As it's a Vodafone MVNO it has 5G coverage in the same UK locations. It also offers 5G roaming.

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