Vodafone launching 5G in Wolverhampton later this year

It is one of 19 towns and cities across the UK that will benefit from faster mobile data speeds during 2019.

Seven cities are already live or switching on soon under ther UK-wide trial, which started last year.

Vodafone became the first UK company to carry 5G traffic over a commercial mobile network in October 2018 from a location in Salford, Greater Manchester.

Engineers have already installed 5G antennas and associated equipment in Birmingham ahead of going live.

All mobile sites will be connected to Vodafone RedStream, its nationwide optical fibre network, with connections giving speeds of up to 10 gigabits per second to ensure customers wishing to stream video without buffering can do so even in built-up areas at busy times of the day.

Vodafone is also rigorously testing the performance of 5G smartphones, processors and routers in its Newbury technology headquarters using the latest industry standards which were approved in December 2018.

5G promises device speeds around 10 times faster than 4G, meaning high quality 4K video calls and downloads will be delivered even quicker to smartphones and tablets.

Data transfer of less than 20 milliseconds will be standard, which is great for gamers, who up until now have had to rely on home broadband when playing online.

Vodafone UK chief technology officer Scott Petty said: “Our multi-billion-pound network investment and leading position in setting global standards will ensure our customers have the very latest 5G releases and technology."