British telecoms multinational announces enhanced 5G mobile speeds

Customers of Vodafone are set to enjoy boosted connection speeds following a successful test of brand-new 5G technology by the telecommunication company.

Vodafone recently collaborated with Xiaomi and Qualcomm on what it describes as the first test in Europe of its kind, where the team’s efforts achieved a top upload speed of 273 megabits-per-second (Mbps).

Qualcomm is the owner of Snapdragon, a brand of smartphone chip that is now a partner with Manchester United Football Club, the brand of which can be seen emblazoned on the players’ shirts. Xiaomi is a leading manufacturer of smartphones based in China that recently launched a new line of budget priced handsets in Britain.

A spokesperson for the joint project stated that the successful test means that customers will now get wider coverage and faster speeds on the latest smartphones and other devices due for release this year.

Uploads refer to the process of data travelling from a user device to their network. It is key for a range of business activities like clear video calls without lag and backing up bigger files. Companies that have staff working from home or in hybrid arrangement need their team to benefit from good upload speeds, so that their productivity is never impacted.

Most modern smartphones and the broadband services they utilise are capable of around 100 Mbps upload speeds. With the advanced 5G technology recently, upload speeds will be increased and closer to download speeds that, historically, have always been faster.