Edinburgh has been named as one of six cities where the UK’s first 5G mobile network is to launch next week.

The next generation high-speed network from EE will be available from May 30 with an expected increase in speeds, reliability and connectivity.

New mobile plans were made available to pre-order from Wednesday for customers in the Scottish capital, which is part of the initial launch along with London, Cardiff, Belfast, Birmingham and Manchester.

By the end of 2019, the “busiest parts” of cities including Glasgow will also have 5G rolled out by the BT-owned telecoms giant.

EE 5G map
Cities where the 5G network will be rolled out by EE in 2019 and 2020 (EE/PA)

More cities will be included next year – including Aberdeen – before the next phase of the rollout in 2022.

Marc Allera, EE boss and chief executive of BT’s consumer division, said: “We’ve started with 5G in some of the busiest parts of the UK, the widest range of 5G devices in the UK and plans that give customers the best mobile connection and great benefits.

“5G will create new experiences with augmented reality, make our customers’ lives easier and help launch entirely new businesses that we haven’t even imagined.

“We’re upgrading more than 100 sites to 5G every month from today to connect more places to what 5G can enable.”