5G a few months on...

5G has been live in Cardiff for some months now and my excitement has not dimmed! EE were first to launch in our capital city followed quickly by Vodafone a few weeks later. O2 have also promised to join the party in Cardiff later this year which will drive even greater choice and competition for the city’s business.

When I’m not helping customers, I’m addicted to the speedtest website to test the fastest speed available, wherever I am in the city. To date the fastest download award goes to EE at 411MB/s! These are speeds we could only dream of a couple of years ago.

 The two biggest questions I get asked on 5G are:

1.      “Do I need a special tariff to access 5G?”

2.      “Do I need a new phone to get 5G?”

The answer to both questions is yes, unfortunately. But, don’t be too upset. Blend Telecom have access to all these tariffs and handsets to help you choose the right solution, when the time is right for your business.The good news just keeps coming with 5G. Vodafone doesn’t charge a 5G premium and O2 have suggested they will follow with this model too. While EE have a slight increase in tariff for the additional speed. Vodafone have also upgraded their gigacube router to 5G allowing superfast speeds to small business users who can’t get fibre to their offices.

With regards to handsets, the 5G bug is catching on. Now brands few have heard of are expanding their horizons with this new technology. Two examples of this are xiaomi and Oppo. Huge Chinese companies that the average Joe wouldn’t know of, are making big moves into 5G. With the massive success of Huawei moving into Western markets, these companies are looking to following in their path.

Chinese companies are using 5G as a shoehorn into the UK. Making their success even more likely, is the fact that Apple are yet to launch a 5G phone this year despite their recent iPhone 11 release. It is well known within the industry that Apple are lacking innovation at the moment. But, with their marketing prowess and skill, 5G will only get bigger and bigger. The ‘Apple effect’ has been proven time and time again with technology such as Face ID and wireless charging booming after they came to the party.

Some example 5G handsets available today are:

·        Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ 5G (I use one of these and love it)

·        Huawei Mate 20 X

·        Xiaomi Mi MIX 3

·        Samsung Galaxy S10 5G

·        Oppo Reno

·        OnePlus 7 Pro 5G

For more information on how you could upgrade your business mobile phone contracts to make use of 5G technology to get your work done faster, and at the best price ring 02920 456 789.

Post by Jay Birch – Blend telecom’s MD