EE Signs Deal With Chinese Smartphone Firm In Bid For UK’s First 5G Coverage

BT’s mobile network arm EE will launch what is expected to be the first 5G smartphone on UK networks early next year, signing a deal with Chinese smartphone minnow OnePlus for its upcoming 5G phone.

The network operator is planning to launch the latest generation of wireless technology from 2019 in 16 cities in the UK. The deal with OnePlus will mean the smartphone maker will be among the first to secure network coverage for its new phone on the fifth-generation network.

While countries like Japan, South Korea and China have been making advances on 5G technology, EE is the first network so far to announce a network deal that could effect UK smartphone buyers.

Samsung has confirmed it is working on its own 5G smartphone, as has Chinese giant Huawei.

OnePlus chief executive Pete Lau said the company would release a 5G smartphone in the first half of next year, although the model would be “significantly more expensive” than its current £450 devices.

Mr Lau told the Telegraph: “Countries like Japan and Korea will be fast to 5G, but also Europe. In Europe we are definitely seeing very quick movement towards 5G and we will have a 5G device in the first half of next year in Europe.”

Current smartphones will not be able to connect to the faster network, which will require new phones with the latest modem technology to connect, largely supplied by rival chip giants Qualcomm and Intel. Currently, no consumer smartphones on sale are able to connect to 5G.

Smartphone companies and network providers are rushing to push 5G technology to consumers even as the global smartphone market continues to slow down. 5G technology upgrades the current 4G mobile data network and can provide users with ten times or 100 times faster speeds of online connections and downloads, but it has so far only been deployed in limited trials.

The new OnePlus phone will use Qualcomm’s new 5G chip for the signal, although the company stressed that its first 5G device would be aimed at exploring the technology and not its main flagship smartphone.

In the US, AT&T and Verizon have both confirmed they will release Samsung’s first device on the upgraded network. Apple is said to be working on a 5G smartphone using Intel modems, but this is not expected to be released until 2020.

EE has said it expected to charge customers “a little bit more” to use its 5G service compared to the 4G network. – The Telegraph