UK’s network provider, EE, recently launched the country’s first next-generation 5G mobile network technology. This service is expected to give customers faster downloads. However, users will need a 5G-compatible device to use the service.

 

The service will first be exclusive to some UK cities – London, Manchester, Birmingham, Cardiff, Belfast and Edinburg. Another UK service provider, Vodafone, will also launch its own 5G service soon.

 

However, this new 5G service does not come cheap. The lowest-priced deal from EE is £54 and a compatible device that costs a one-off fee of £170. Although, this only includes 10GB of data monthly.

 

 

The question is, how long will 10GB of data last?

 

The BBC has some answers.

 

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) recently did their first live-streamed segment over 5G, and it showed that the extra speed and bandwidth will make it hard to stay within data limits.

 

BBC Reporter, Rory Cellan-Jones did a live report during the BBC Breakfast program to test the streaming ability of the new 5G network.

 

 

The 5G technology was true to its word. The broadcast was seamless. There was excellent image quality, no compression artefacts and no random freezes or hiccups.

 

However, Jones discovered that the speed connection kept fluctuating depending on where he stood. This will hopefully be a solvable problem once 5G towers become more available.

 

The BBC Breakfast segment was delayed for 15 minutes when the Huawei equipment they were using suddenly stopped working. This happened because the live stream had reached its data cap, and the data had been exhausted.

 

This will be a big issue with the 5G technology for consumers. This is mostly because, to maximise the technology, you would need to use it for streaming, and that could use up the data.

 

It looks like customers will have to ready themselves for faster but more expensive internet if they have to enjoy the perks of 5G.