Town leads the way as 5G arrives

HIGH-SPEED mobile data has come to Rochdale, making it one of Greater Manchester’s first 5G sites.

The expansion of Vodafone’s 5G network in Greater Manchester underlines its commitment to providing the latest digital connectivity based on a converged full-fibre and mobile infrastructure. MediaCity, Salford, is also the location of Vodafone’s first digital test bed and is now being used by more than 100 application developers and start-ups.

Vodafone UK chief executive officer Nick Jeffery said: “We have started the new year as we mean to go on.

“We now offer 5G in double the number of places than our nearest rival and we have significantly boosted the capacity of our network.

“It is ready for the arrival in 2020 of some great new 5G handsets and the next big software release bringing ultra-low latency. Together, these will push 5G to the next level.”

5G roaming is available through network Vodafone at no extra cost to users, and Vodafone is the first UK company to offer 5G roaming and to support 5G multi-operator Radio Access Network technology.

This enables providers to share the same mobile base station, helping to reduce energy usage and the number of masts needed.

5G is faster, more reliable and responsive than other services.

5G roaming already covers Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK as part of Vodafone’s 5G roll-out.

The arrival of 5G meets future demand and means more customers can experience Wi-Fi-like speeds on the move with almost no buffering or time lag.

For example, customers can use one of Vodafone’s entertainment services – Spotify Premium, Amazon Prime Video, Sky Sports Mobile TV or a NOW TV Entertainment Pass – at up to 10 times faster on 5G than with 4G.