\tINTERVIEW: Marc Allera, head of EE (pictured), predicted initial demand for 5G would be muted, with early adopters setting the tone for the technology before demand begins to accelerate rapidly.<\/p>\n
Ahead of a commercial launch in the UK later this year, the CEO of BT’s consumer unit (which includes mobile operator EE) highlighted the price of handsets compatible with the technology as a factor, noting they are \u201cvery much at the upper end, particularly the foldable ones\u201d. Due to this, 5G services will be \u201call about the early adopters at first\u201d.<\/p>\n
This group has an important role to play, in particular by “bringing other consumers into the market”.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are the people talking to their friends, they are networked individuals,\u201d he told Mobile World Live at MWC19 Barcelona. \u201cIt\u2019s important that those early adopters are excited about it. I think there\u2019s enough there in terms of the device range, and certainly in terms of the network range\u2026it\u2019s enough to get us started. It won\u2019t be the majority of what we sell in the first year, but it will accelerate very rapidly from there.\u201d<\/p>\n
EE plans to launch 5G [1] in the busiest parts of 16 major UK cities in 2019 and Allera reiterated it is pushing to do so ahead of rivals Vodafone UK, Telefonica\u2019s O2 UK and Hutchison\u2019s 3 UK.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have always prided ourselves on being first, that\u2019s at the DNA of the company\u2026we want to be ahead of the pack and we are working with a number of partners to make that happen.”<\/p>\n
During the interview, Allera also addressed ongoing security concerns surrounding certain vendors building out networks in the UK. Click here to watch [2].<\/p>\n[1] https:\/\/www.mobileworldlive.com\/featured-content\/home-banner\/ee-lays-out-5g-launch-strategy\/
\n[2] https:\/\/www.mobileworldlive.com\/videos\/interviews\/interview-bt\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
INTERVIEW: Marc Allera, head of EE (pictured), predicted initial demand for 5G would be muted, …<\/p>\n
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