Many Britons feel 5G is overrated and are yet to see the connectivity improvements they anticipated, research has found.
Uswitch research shows that while a third of Britons (32%) now own a 5G handset, one in six mobile users (16%) think the technology is overrated and less than half of 5G users (41%) say whether they have experienced improvements in speed or reliability.
Despite the results, a quarter (23%) of consumers plan to buy or upgrade to a 5G handset in the next two years.
The results, which come from an Opinium poll of 2,000 UK adults, also show that almost one in six 5G users in rural areas (17%) say they have never been able to connect to the network, although those who live in cities have fewer difficulties. (6 percent).
Yorkshire has some of the worst connectivity in the UK, with less than half of people not even getting a reliable 4G signal (48%), while Glasgow is the UK’s 5G hotspot with 49% of users receiving it regularly.
More than 16 million people have a 5G-enabled handset in the UK, but the government has only pledged that most of the UK population will be able to receive 5G by 2027.
Building a 5G network is usually very expensive as it requires high infrastructure cost which is added to land use issues. Vodafone and Three are currently considering a merger to accelerate their 5G rollout.
From next year, the 3G network will start to be phased out across the UK so the bandwidth it uses can be freed up for 4G and 5G services.
Vodafone has announced it will switch off its 3G network in 2023, followed by EE and Three in 2024, while O2 has yet to announce its shutdown plans. 2G and 3G mobile networks are expected to be phased out completely in the UK by 2033.
Ernest Doku, Telecommunications Expert at Uswitch.com, said: “After the promise of 5G bringing super-fast speeds to our mobiles, it’s no wonder that many consumers still don’t understand what it’s all about. about their daily experiences.
“But it’s important to remember that 5G was first tested in the UK just three years ago, so this technology is still in its infancy. We’re only scratching the surface of what it can do.
“When technology reaches its potential – and more importantly, becomes readily available to everyone – it will change not just the speed of our mobile data, but the way we live our lives.
“With multiple concurrent users in the home becoming commonplace due to our new hybrid standard and the rise of plug-and-play mobile broadband as a viable alternative to landline services, 5G could well play a pivotal role. in connecting our homes in ways we might never have imagined.
Sign up for the E&T News email to get great stories like this delivered to your inbox every day.
