Vodafone has opened up its 5G network to Birkenhead, Bolton, Gatwick, Lancaster, Newbury, Plymouth, Stoke-on-Trent and Wolverhampton.
The update means Vodafone’s 5G network is now available in 15 UK towns and cities.You could already access Vodafone’s 5G in Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Glasgow, Manchester, Liverpool and London – which launched on the 3rd of July. Along with the new UK locations, Vodafone has added 20 towns and cities in Germany – meaning the network has now launched 5G in 55 locations across Europe.
Related: Best 5G phones
Vodafone initially announced it’d be bringing 5G to 19 towns and cities before the end of 2019 – with Blackpool, Bournemouth, Guildford, Portsmouth, Reading and Warrington still to come from the original list released by the network.
You may have noticed the maths doesn’t add up there. Two locations just added – Bolton and Lancaster – weren’t revealed on the initial lineup. So, it seems like we may actually be getting 21 UK locations this year.
Vodafone is soaring ahead of the competition in terms of rollout, thus far. EE announced 16 5G locations it would launch in before the end of 2019 but is currently only at six. While O2 and Three are both yet to launch their 5G networks.
Related: 5G in the UK
Vodafone recently announced a new range of contracts to run alongside its new 5G network. Unlike EE, Vodafone isn’t offering 5G-specific contracts. Vodafone is selling unlimited data contracts which give you access to 5G but are based on the speed available to you rather than 4G or 5G.
Vodafone’s Unlimited Lite gives you up to 2Mbps for £23 per month. Unlimited gets you up to 10Mbps for £26 per month. Vodafone’s bumper plan – Unlimited Max – sees phone users given access to “Fastest speed” for £30 per month.
With 5G in its infancy, you don’t have a ton of options when it comes to phone choice on Vodafone – or any other network. Vodafone currently sells just two 5G phones – the Xiaomi Mi MIX 3 5G and Samsung Galaxy S10 5G.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.