EE will be the first mobile network to operate 5G services in the UK.

The BBC reports that the phone firm will switch on 5G services in London, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Belfast, Birmingham and Manchester from May 30th, 2019. 10 more cities are planned to receive support by the end of the year.

EE claims this is merely phase one of its 5G rollout, with full 5G support due in 2022. The company has beaten rival provider Vodaphone by two months, with its service set to arrive in July.

Start of UK's journey

"This is the start of the UK's 5G journey and great news for our customers that want and need the best connections," said EE parent company BT's consumer division chief executive Marc Allera.

While 5G will come across a range of new handsets from various manufacturers, Huawei devices won’t be a part of this initial rollout.

"We're pausing the launch of the new Huawei 5G smartphones coming to market," said an EE spokesperson.

This comes as the Chinese manufacturer loses access to Google services and features, following demands from the US government.

EE has stated that it is working with both Huawei and Google to carry out the right level of testing and quality assurance.