EE deploys first 5G ‘small cells’ in Croydon 

Street-level mini-masts use existing street infrastructure in busy urban areas to boost mobile capacity. 

We tend to expect our cities to have better mobile connections than rural areas. In fact, the more densely packed a place is with people, the more demand is placed on networks. Increasing capacity with new infrastructure can be highly disruptive – which is where ‘small cells’ are proving so useful. 

A new 5G small cell installed on a pre-existing lamp post in Croydon, photo courtesy of BT

As we’ve reported before, small cells are miniature mobile masts that can be easily installed on existing street furniture such as lamp posts, digital street hubs and iconic red phone boxes. 

EE has deployed more than 1,000 small cells across the UK, with 400 new deployments in the past year. This includes 4G small cells in urban centres including Cardiff, Dundee, Luton, Norwich and Stoke-on-Trent, and in locations that are packed by tourists during the summer, such as Cumbria and Torbay. 

In addition, the first 5G small cells have recently been installed in seven sites across the London Borough Croydon. These 5G cells are already seeing over 3TB of traffic every day, supporting the local community of businesses, shops and homes.  

To identify the locations that will most benefit from the small cell performance boost, EE uses advanced network analytics. It then works with partners Nokia and Ericsson to deploy the smart cells. By reducing network congestion in this way, users can access speeds up to 300Mbps on the 4G smart cells and 600Mbps on 5G.  

EE offers both licenced 1800MHz and 2600Mhz spectrum and unlicensed 5GHz spectrum in its 4G small cells – a unique combination across Europe which enables the company to provide high capacity and speeds. Croydon’s new 5G smart cells are configured with licensed 1800MHz spectrum for 4G and 3.5GHz for 5G. 

Greg McCall, Chief Networks Officer at the BT Group, says: ‘Small cells are an integral component within our mobile network, ensuring that even in the busiest places our customers have access to the full performance of the UK’s best network. To reach 1,000 deployments, including our first 5G sites, demonstrates our commitment to delivering unrivalled mobile connectivity to all four corners of the UK.’ 

Jason Perry, Executive Mayor of Croydon, adds: ‘This is great news for Croydon – we’re delighted to be the first town in the UK to be trialling 5G small cells with EE, bringing the latest mobile connectivity to our borough. These 5G small cells will improve the network capacity in high-usage areas, giving faster download speeds for our residents, businesses and visitors.’ 

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