EE has deployed a technology from Ericsson, advanced radio access network (RAN) coordination (ARC), that it says will give millions of 5G users across the UK a significant boost to their connectivity.
Fundamentally, ARC technology is designed to allow nearby mobile sites to remotely pair up and share capacity, with the result of “dramatically” boosting network performance – especially in busy areas at peak times – without the need for additional masts.
EE claims to be the first mobile operator globally to use ARC in its distributed mobile network. It has been able to roll out inter-site 5G downlink carrier aggregation in its distributed RAN to combine spare capacity from multiple independent cell sites, and is said to have had the result of increasing downlink data performance by approximately 20% on average, more than doubling performance under ideal conditions.
The operator believes the deployment represents smarter infrastructure, not just more equipment. Indeed, it noted that instead of installing new radio equipment, it was using a small optical pluggable device in each baseband unit to enable this capacity sharing. The software-driven approach is said to allow it to scale performance efficiently, keeping infrastructure costs low while delivering high-impact results for customers where it’s needed most.
The technology is further enabled by EE’s parent BT Group’s fibre infrastructure, which connects cell sites, regarded as crucial for enabling real-time coordination between sites – with less than a half a millisecond delay – and which is needed to unlock the full benefits of 5G carrier aggregation.
Initially trialled in Bristol, the technology has already gone live on EE’s network in major cities including Manchester and Edinburgh to deliver faster and more reliable 5G connectivity for customers in busy locations such as train stations, high streets and city centres. In Edinburgh, for example, sites supporting the city’s Waverley Station have been boosted, while in Manchester it has been deployed in sites across the city centre.
Throughout the next year, EE plans to deploy the technology across some of the UK’s busiest cities, boosting 5G performance for customers in London, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool, Belfast, Cardiff, Newcastle, Sheffield and Sunderland. Customers in these places using the latest 5G standalone (5G SA) compatible devices – on both iOS and Android – will see the biggest performance gains.
EE launched 5G SA networks in 15 cities across the UK in September 2024, and is currently embarking on a plan to roll out 5G standalone to a further 17 towns and cities by the end of December 2025, making 5G standalone available to more than 41 million people by spring 2026.
The locations set to benefit next include: Basildon, Bolton, Brighton and Hove, Colchester, Gloucester, Lincoln, Maidstone, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Northampton, Oxford, Plymouth, Poole, Portsmouth, Reading, Southampton, Southend-on-Sea, and Telford.
Greg McCall, chief networks officer at BT Group, said: “EE customers are the first in the world to benefit from this technology, with millions of them getting a huge boost to the 5G connectivity they rely on every day.
“By increasing capacity in this way, our customers will get faster speeds and an even more reliable experience instantly. It is a real game-changer, and yet another example of how the nation gets a better network experience on EE. We are building our 5G standalone network at an unprecedented pace to connect customers, communities and the country to the most reliable and powerful mobile experiences.”
