In a statement, the company said it would be focusing on areas where it claimed customers needed the technology most: transport hubs, key business areas and entertainment and sports venues including the The O2 and Twickenham Stadium.
As to 5G-enabled devices, O2 said the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G would be available for purchase by 8 August, with the Xiaomi to follow later the same month. Both consumers and businesses would be able to select 5G prices that suited them.
Mark Evans, chief executive of Telefónica UK, the owner of O2, said: "5G is going to be a game changer for our country. Whether it’s for people or businesses, the power of this next-generation network is going to unlock a world of possibilities for our economy and society.
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"We’re also giving our customers maximum flexibility with our industry-leading custom plans, letting people adopt 5G at a time that’s right for them."
Two 5G services are already operating in the UK, those of EE and Vodafone. In both cases, the companies have used gear from Chinese telecommunications equipment vendor Huawei Technologies in non-core parts of the network. iTWire has asked Telefónica UK if it will be doing the same.
O2 said it would have 5G operating in the following 20 towns and cities by the end of the year: Belfast, Blackpool, Bournemouth, Bristol, Cardiff, Coventry, Derby, Edinburgh, Eton, Guildford, Leeds, Leicester, Lisburn, London, Norwich, Nottingham, Reading, Slough, Stoke and Windsor.
And by the UK summer of 2020, the following additional 23 towns and cities would be covered: Aberdeen, Bradford, Brighton, Birkenhead, Birmingham, Cambridge, Glasgow, Hove, Kingston, Liverpool, Luton, Manchester, Milton Keynes, Newbury, Newcastle, Northampton, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Sheffield, Southampton, Sunderland, Warrington and Wolverhampton. An additional seven would be announced later to bring the total up to 50.