5G in Cambridge...When?

[giorgosa]

Hi,

what is the plan for expanding 5G in Cambridge and East Anglia in general? Looking at the map, I don't think that there is any other area in the UK with that poor coverage of 5G. It is a shame considering the IT/Research services based in Cambridge.

[BandOfBrothers]

The status Checker shows any planned work for 3 months I'm advance @giorgosa 

status-checker 

Other than that some information maybe on Vodafone's blog pages or tech pages. 

[Farai]

Unfortunately we aren't able to advise when 5G will be available in a given area @giorgosa. As @BandOfBrothers suggested, any updates will be shared on the coverage checker. You can access it via the link, I'd recommend that you keep an eye on that for any new information regarding your area 👍 

[Archi]

How strange... I literally have just logged on to the forum to ask the very same question!

I echo the comment above. I think Vodafone are falling seriously behind in their 5g rollout in East Anglia. I think bar some coverage in the outskirts of Norwich, there is NO 5g coverage in the whole of East Anglia whatsoever!

Meanwhile, EE have today announced yet more 5g locations in East Anglia, have started rolling out 5g in Cambridge (and other areas), not to mention 5g coverage in some busy coastal areas iand other towns/cities/Ipswich.

The same applies with O2. I thought Vodafone and O2 were supposed to be sharing 5g equipment to "speed up" the rollout? Why do O2 have 5g coverage in Cambridge, Norwich, Stevenage, Clacton, Ipswich, Great Yarmouth, Harlow, Southend, Bury St Edmunds..... I could go on. Yet look at the Vodafone controlled West and O2 are still rolling out 5g?

Yes, some of these may be "unwind" areas, but all the more reason to get on with the rollout.

The network in the O2 controlled East is unusable at worst (usually peak times), nothing special at best.

Vodafone need to take a leaf out of EE's book, who seem all too happy to announce areas getting 5g "soon"...

[giorgosa]

I can see that 5G in Cambridge is planned for the next 3 months (from the coverage map).

It seems just one base station at the moment (at the roundabout where McDonalds is), but let's hope that this is just the beginning for Cambridge and East Anglia.

[Archi]

I did drive past this particular monopole on Friday. Unsure if it is a shared mast or if it is an 'unwind' site?

Unfortunately, it isn't even just about the 5g coverage. 4g speeds outside the City are poor. Where I live (around 20 mins from the City centre), I get 4g speeds of <1Mbps at peak times.

I have an open Network query with the Social Media team, who have acknowledged the site is congested and that they will 'optimise' it. However, we all know they will do nothing, especially as most of the country is the same, with just the 10Mhz of band 20 spectrum deployed. Also, as it is in East Anglia it is a shared site with O2, so not even their hardware to optimise...

It is a shame, but I think EE will retain their network superiority.

[serum67]

I took a contract out with Virgin(they piggy back onto Vodafone, for now at least.) 4 months a go. It said planned 3 months before I took it out...

Should have stayed with EE

[scarytechie97]

8 Months down the line and we are still in the same situation.

The tiniest part of Norwich and Cambridge both have 5G. The rest of the east simply forgotten about. In Ipswich we have more than adequate 4G but would be nice to have the 5G luxuries considering now every other rival now has it on greater scale.

Now that phone contracts have gone up significantly, and also paying for a 5G Handset and Sim, surely Vodafone can pluck up the courage and start investing more with their rollout in the East.

[simax]

I wouldn’t be too disheartened on missing out… it seems that the 5G rollout is currently moving at a snail’s pace right now. Because there are less 5G masts about it means more saturated sites as well meaning less than optimal 5G speeds….

Example - I have an iPhone 12 Pro with two sims in, and in Bristol last week I got 110 megabit/sec on Vodafone 5G, whereas EE 4G topped 338 megabit/sec! I’d love to know how fast their 5G is! I can’t upgrade my EE sim to 5G as it’s a company paid corporate sim which is a shame….

My 5G on Voda was great 15 months ago but more people are on board now and the network is slowing as a result of under-investment. Get your act together.