Lyca Mobile 5G coverage checker

Last updated 14th August, 2023

Lyca Mobile has 5G available in parts of over 1,000 towns and cities at the time of writing, with coverage improving all the time.

It launched its 5G service in December 2021, and it uses EE’s infrastructure (having switched from O2), so it has 5G in all the same places as EE.

Below we’ve detailed every key aspect of Lyca Mobile’s 5G network, including the major places that it has coverage, and how it stands up to other 5G networks in the UK.

Lyca Mobile 5G Summary

How does Lyca Mobile's 5G coverage compare to others?

We keep track of which networks offer 5G coverage across 120 major UK towns and cities, so you can see at a glance how they compare in key locations.

Lyca Mobile has the same number of locations as EE below:

• O2 has launched 5G in 88 of the 120 locations below. 
• Three has launched 5G in 108 of the 120 locations below. 
• EE has launched 5G in 111 of the 120 locations below. 
• Vodafone has launched 5G in 82 of the 120 locations below. 

Note however that coverage won’t be comprehensive in all of these places. We’re still in the relatively early days of 5G, which means that coverage can and often will be patchy.

If we’ve ticked a location in the chart below, it simply means that a network claims to have some coverage there. As such, you should use Lyca Mobile’s official coverage checker to get a more detailed look at whether there’s 5G where you need it.

Latest locations to get Lyca Mobile 5G

The latest locations to get Lyca Mobile 5G (via EE) as of August 2023 include Darlington, Dorchester, Dumfries and Galloway, and Galashiels.

Lyca Mobile coverage checker

Lyca Mobile has its own online coverage checker which you should head to if you want a more detailed picture of its 5G coverage across the UK. This tool will also show you Lyca Mobile’s 4G, 3G and 2G coverage.

5G coverage is currently limited, even in some of the towns and cities that have 5G at all, so it’s definitely worth checking your coverage before buying a 5G plan or a 5G phone.

Check Lyca Mobile 5G Coverage

4G coverage

Lyca Mobile also still offers 4G, 3G and 2G coverage through EE, so you’ll be able to access those network technologies when you’re somewhere with no 5G.

As you can see in the chart below, Lyca Mobile has roughly 99% 4G population coverage, which puts it in line with rivals. Its 3G and 2G coverage is similarly widespread.

5G roaming abroad

Lyca Mobile doesn’t currently offer 5G roaming, but at the time of writing few networks do. This may change over time, but for now you can roam across the EU at no extra cost on most Lyca Mobile plans, you’ll just be limited to slower network speeds.

5G network speeds

Lyca Mobile hasn’t had its 5G speeds studied yet, but EE – which is its network partner – has, and the two are likely to be similar.

So for EE then, RootMetrics in the second half of 2022 found that it had a median 5G download speed of 141.6Mbps, which is second only to Three’s result in this test. This report also found that its 95th percentile speed (so close to its highest) was 380.0Mbps, and its 5th percentile speed (so close to its lowest) was 20.1Mbps, which are also great results.

There’s also Opensignal data from April 2023, which put EE’s average 5G download speed at 122.3Mbps. That’s again higher than the other major networks aside from Three.

A Point Topic study from September 2020 meanwhile found that the average 5G download speed on the network was 149.9Mbps, that its maximum 5G download speed was 753Mbps, and that its median was 130Mbps.

Finally, there’s Speedtest/Ookla data from the first half of 2021, which found EE’s median 5G download speed to be 151Mbps.

So speeds seem variable, but always high compared to 4G at least, and they’re likely to increase over time as coverage and network tech improves. Of course, there’s no guarantee that Lyca Mobile’s speeds will be a match for these, but they’re likely to be similar.

Latency

Latency is the time it takes for the network to respond to a request to transfer data – so it’s the delay before a download for example even starts. Usually it’s a delay that’s not even noticeable, as it’s short enough to be measured in milliseconds (ms), but it can still affect how fast a network feels.

We don’t yet know what Lyca Mobile’s 5G latency is, but a 2021 report from Ookla suggests that EE’s is 29ms, so Lyca Mobile’s will probably be similar. For reference, 4G latency tends to be around 30-50ms, and as 5G tech improves, the latency could drop further.

Lyca Mobile’s 5G frequency allocation

Lyca Mobile presumably uses all the same spectrum as EE, so as the chart above shows it should have access to the 3.4GHz, 3.6GHz and 700MHz bands for 5G.

The first two of those are high frequency, which is ideal for 5G as there’s typically more capacity available in high-frequency bands, which helps ensure that speeds are high and reliable even with lots of devices connecting to the network at the same time.

700MHz though can help make up for some of the limitations of high-frequency bands, as this low-frequency spectrum is better at travelling over long distances and at passing through buildings and other obstacles. Combined, they allow for a well-rounded 5G network.

In total, Lyca Mobile (through EE) should have access to 40MHz of 3.4GHz spectrum, 40MHz of 3.6GHz spectrum, and 40MHz of 700MHz spectrum, for 120MHz of 5G spectrum in total.

For comparison, Three has access to 160MHz of 5G spectrum, O2 has access to 100MHz, and Vodafone has 90MHz.

Note however that all of the networks may eventually gain access to additional 5G spectrum, at future 5G spectrum auctions.