Three launches Ireland’s largest 5G network available in every county

Three has launched Ireland’s largest 5G network with the latest fifth-generation technology available in every county for Three customers. At launch Three will have 35% population coverage, adding further sites in early 2021.

As the first network in Ireland to offer a 5G plan to Prepay customers, as well as Bill pay and business customers, this development supports Three’s ongoing commitment to enhance connectivity nationwide, and part of their annual network investment of over €100 million.

Three is offering a variety of phones on its 5G network available from stores and online today, including Samsung S20 Ultra, Samsung S20 Plus, Samsung S20 5G, Huawei Mate Xs 5G and Huawei P40 Pro 5G. Prepay customers on selected plans will have access to a €5 5G add-on and for Bill pay customers, some plans will have 5G included while others will have the option of a €5 5G add-on.

Robert Finnegan, CEO of Three Ireland and Three UK said: “As Ireland’s largest mobile data network, carrying 68% of all mobile data, I am delighted that Three is now launching Ireland’s largest 5G network, which will be available to Three customers in every county from today. We started our 5G rollout with Ericsson last year, building our network to bring customers in both rural and urban areas the best possible experience of 5G from the very beginning, which includes providing superfast broadband to remote areas in Ireland. With our nationwide 5G footprint now in place and a variety of 5G enabled devices on the market, we believe now is the right time to launch. Connectivity is vital to our everyday lives, so we wanted to be the first in the country to offer Prepay customers as well as Bill pay customers a 5G experience. 5G is transforming how we connect, work, are entertained and how we live our lives. Having seen what 5G can do and the latency it provides, I am excited to see the economic developments and opportunities this brings to Ireland as we strive to compete in a global environment where connectivity is crucial.”

Commenting on the 5G launch, David Hennessy, CTO, Three Ireland stated: “Three has always been a leader in data so we wanted to ensure we launched with a nationwide 5G network, offering the strongest customer experience and we are delighted with how it has been performing already. Today we have 315 sites across the country offering 35%population coverage and in 2021 we expect to increase the number of sites by 500 up to 800 in total, further enhancing the network. In utilising both our high capacity 3.7 GHz, along with repurposing some of our existing 4G spectrum for 5G, customers can see speeds of up to 1 Gbps. In the coming months we will continue to invest and build our network with Ericsson, broadening the reach and speeds of 5G across the country.”

Arun Bansal, President of Europe and Latin America, Ericsson says: “With this extensive 5G roll-out, our partners at Three are showcasing their leadership as 5G innovators. Three has made significant developments since we became the technology partner for 4G and 5G last year. With us, they now have a best-in-class 4G network and will be ahead in 5G too, thanks to Ericsson’s leading 5G RAN and state-of-the-art virtualised Core Network. As our partnership strengthens, expansive 5G across Ireland will boost economic development and mean many fantastic new opportunities.” 

5G will introduce speeds that are on average 5-10 times faster than the typical 4G connection and up to 1 Gbps.

The introduction of 5G across the island of Ireland provides the capacity to meet the growing connectivity needs and will have a positive impact on business in Ireland as the pace of digitalisation increases.  5G will also facilitate advances in agriculture, education, healthcare and transport. With Three’s network, customers will also benefit from even better connectivity as they continue to work from home.

Customers will see device responsiveness increase and enhanced user experience across entertainment, gaming, streaming, AR/VR applications and accelerate the rollout of the Internet of Things and the Smart Home.

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