EE has launched the UK's first real-world 5G network test, TechRadar Pro reports. The trial, located at Montgomery Square in Canary Wharf, London, is the first of ten that the company are starting in October. All trial networks will run in East London and include locations at City Road, Old Street, Hoxton Square, St Paul's and Chiswell Street among others.
This month's 5G tests are not EE's first either. The company announced in November 2017 that they had achieved 2.8 Gbps 5G network speeds under controlled conditions, releasing a promotional video to that effect.
EE chose these locations primarily because of their high footfall, with up to 150,000 people passing through Montgomery Square per day alone. The trials will allow EE to test the stability of their fledgling 5G networks while people carry hundreds of thousands of Internet-connected devices through the sites each day. These trials are limited in scope though, with EE only supplying "five small businesses and five homes" with the hardware required to connect to their 5G network for today’s first trial. Fotis Karonis, Managing Director of Mobile and Voice Convergence at BT/EE added that:
"This is the latest milestone in our 5G rollout - a live test of our 5G network, in a hugely busy 'hotspot', where we know there's going to be demand from customers for increased mobile capacity."
Trusted Reviews reports that EE plans to roll out 5G to consumers in 2019, but there is no official word on this yet. Likewise, there are no 5G consumer devices for sale either, although there is a 5G-compatible Moto Mod for the Moto Z3. Equally, Qualcomm hinted at including its 5G X50 modem in its upcoming Snapdragon 855 SoC, but this is not guaranteed either.
Sources: 5G | TechRadar Pro | Trusted Reviews | YouTube
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