Vodafone has quietly expanded its 5G coverage from 100 locations at last count to 124 now, with some major new additions such as Swindon, Blackburn and Dartford.
According to the network’s 5G location list, it has now brought 5G to parts of Ashtead, Banstead, Biggin Hill, Blackburn, Bonhill, Borehamwood, Dartford, Epping, Epsom, Grays, Leatherhead, London Colney, Molesey, New Addington, Newcastle Under Lyme, Orpington, Oxted, Poole, Shirehampton, Stanwell, Swanley, Swindon, Thames Ditton, Tilbury, Waltham Cross, and Warlingham.
As ever with 5G coverage you shouldn’t expect comprehensive 5G availability in these places – in most cases it will probably be patchy for now, but it’s sure to improve over time.
Still behind
This boost in locations still leaves Vodafone in last place in terms of sheer location numbers though, with Three leading at over 300, followed by O2 with 194 and EE with 161 at our last count. Still, location numbers don’t tell the whole story, since the amount of coverage in each place and the size and population of the locations are also factors.
That’s why we also track which networks offer 5G coverage in 120 key UK locations, which you can see on our coverage pages. Though on that front Vodafone is also behind with 47 covered, compared to 75 for EE and O2, and 82 for Three.
Vodafone does have an ace up its sleeve in the form of 5G roaming though, as it additionally lets customers roam in a huge number of locations across Germany, Spain, Italy and Ireland at 5G speeds, which none of the other major networks yet allow.
So Vodafone is the champion when it comes to speedy roaming, and if its 5G coverage in the UK is behind (which is impossible to be sure of just with these numbers) then it will likely close the gap over time.
