5G Coverage Checker – Compare coverage on all UK networks

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, 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 102 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 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	Major Towns and Cities with 5G
	May, 2019	76
	July 2019	44
	February, 2020	82
	October 2019	75
	October, 2019	76
	January, 2020	75
	March, 2020	75
	October, 2019	44
	October,2020	75
	January, 2021	44
	April, 2021	44
	May, 2021	82
	August, 2021	44
	October, 2021	76

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	Three + iD Mobile	O2 +Sky +Tesco +Giffgaff
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 76 major locations (plus numerous smaller ones), Vodafone 5G is in 44 locations (plus a number of smaller ones), O2 is in 75, and Three is in 82.

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, and Sky Mobile have already launched a 5G service, while Smarty has announced that it will be offering 5G at some point in the future.

		Asda Mobile 5G Coverage Asda Mobile launched 5G in April, 2021. It offers coverage in the same places as Vodafone.
		BT 5G Coverage BT has launched 5G in the same selection of locations as EE.
		CMLink 5G Coverage CMLink has launched 5G in the same selection of locations as EE.
		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 launched 5G in October, 2020, as an MVNO of O2.
		iD Mobile 5G Coverage iD Mobile launched 5G in May, 2021, as an MVNO of Three.
		Lebara Mobile 5G Coverage iLebara Mobile launched 5G in August, 2021, as an MVNO of Vodafone.
		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.
		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. That means it has 5G in 194 towns and cities at the time of writing.
		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 started offering 5G in January, 2021 in the same places as Vodafone.
		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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