UK's First 5G Test

Vodafone announces the completion of UK’s first test of the new 5G spectrum across an existing live network.

17:03 16 April 2018

Vodafone has announced the completion of the UK’s first 5G test using an existing live network, describing it as ‘a major milestone in UK telecommunications.’

 

The test, which took place between Vodafone’s headquarters in Newbury and Manchester, was carried out on April 12. It is the first time the 3.4Ghz frequency, which Ofcom has recently auctioned, was used. It was carried out using Active Antennae tech that runs the new spectrum over the existing 4G network. The tech is a “key building block for 5G. The system has multiple antennae to send and receive data more efficiently, boosting capacity where lots of people are connecting to the network at the same time.”

 

The company is yet to confirm the speeds it was able to achieve during the test.

 

Vodafone has secured the largest slice of the 3.4Ghz frequency in the spectrum auction. This is the band that is expected to play the biggest role in the deployment of 5G starting 2020. Meanwhile, Telefonica was able to grab all spectrum on offer in the 2.3Ghz band and some on the 3.4GHz band. Three purchased the least.