Three has announced it will launch its 5G network in August, claiming it will be the fastest in the UK - but there's one major catch.
At launch, the will only be available in London as a home broadband service.
Three said its 5G home broadband customers will be able to plug a hub into the wall to immediately become connected, without lengthy engineer wait times or a long-term contract.
This "plug and play" 5G service is set to offer comparable speeds to fibre broadband, according to Three.
The company then plans to roll out both mobile and home broadband offerings in 25 towns and cities across the UK "before the end of the year".
Three has more than twice as much 5G spectrum as its closest competitor, which it claims will deliver significantly faster speeds for its customers.
At launch, peak mobile speeds will to be at least twice as fast as other mobile network operators, and will provide a more reliable connection and experience for customers, according to Three.
The company also boasts that it is the only operator that can offer a "true" 5G experience, as set out by the global standards body on 5G technology, the ITU.
This requires 80-100 MHz of contiguous spectrum in prime 5G mid-bands (eg 3.5 GHz).
As well as spectrum, Three has been investing in high-capacity smart antennas, in order meet the anticipated future demand for data.
UK consumers are expected to use 13 times more mobile data in 2025 than today, and Three’s mobile customers are particularly data-hungry, already using 3.5 times more data per month than the industry average.
"It's clear that consumes and businesses want more and more data," said Dave Dyson, chief executive of Three.
"We have the UK's best network for data and we have led the market on customer usage on both 3G and 4G technologies.
"We have worked hard over a long period of time to be able to offer the best end to end 5G experience.
"5G is a game changer for Three, and of course I am excited that we will be the only operator in the UK who can offer true 5G."
Over the next three years, Three's 5G rollout will continue to ramp up to cover 80% of its network traffic.
The network investment programme also includes upgrades within Three’s 4G network, expected to deliver up to 400% improvements in speed and capacity.
This will be achieved through deploying more 4G spectrum, converting 3G spectrum to 4G and using advanced antenna technology, according to Three.
Customers wishing to use 5G at launch will need to be in a 5G area and have access to either a 5G smartphone or home broadband device.
Three will be announcing more details around handset range and pricing in July.
The full list of cities which Three will begin rolling out 5G by the end of 2019 is as follows:
- London
- Birmingham
- Bolton
- Bradford
- Brighton
- Bristol
- Cardiff
- Coventry
- Derby
- Edinburgh
- Glasgow
- Hull
- Leeds
- Leicester
- Liverpool
- Manchester
- Middlesbrough
- Milton Keynes
- Nottingham
- Reading
- Rotherham
- Sheffield
- Slough
- Sunderland
- Wolverhampton
