The UK will miss out on £11bn of infrastructure investment to deliver 5G Standalone to 95 percent of the population by 2030 and 99 percent of the UK population by 2034 unless the Vodafone Three merger goes ahead. So says Vodafone UK’s Chief Network Officer, Andrea Donà, citing findings from research that indicate nationwide 5G

Virgin Media O2 has activated its 5G Standalone network in 14 cities promising broader coverage, increased bandwidth, and reduced latency. Recent Samsung Galaxy phones and Sony Xperia devices are supported. ,But iPhone owners will not be able to access the service as Apple hasn’t released the necessary software updates. Cities covered are: Manchester, Liverpool, London,

5G Standalone could boost the economy by £150 billion  Vodafone says it is the first UK mobile operator to switch on its 5G Standalone (5G SA) network and is offering it to select customers on a trial basis. Selected customers in London, Manchester, Liverpool, Bristol, Bath, Glasgow, and Birmingham and who have Oppo Find X3/X5

The connectivity between the two networks can be hosted on BICS’ IPX network for faster and more efficient implementation and management

This marks the next phase of 5G on BT’s EE mobile network which aims to deliver quality experiences and new capabilities for all customers

5G network slicing is anticipated to enable several specialist use cases

The two companies are also working together to deliver 5G connectivity to millions of EE customers across the UK.

Vodafone is working with Ericsson as part of the pilot