Video of VodafoneThree's impressive speeds

This is a good watch for the speed improvements we got with the VodafoneThree's merger.

Just to note, we don't have access to the 5G Standalone network, not only because SMARTY is an MVNO and many others don't have it, but also because Three's Core doesn't currently support 5G SA. Vodafone and Three's Cores currently remain separate, only sharing their Radio Access Network or cell towers, and only at certain sites deployed with MOCN technology which is set to be 100% completed in 2033. Therefore, it is not too accurate to call VodafoneThree a single network just yet. Though Sky Mobile, an O2 MVNO, did get 5G Standalone in August 2026 branded as 5G+ like many other networks; article about it here: Sky Mobile UK Becomes First O2 MVNO to Launch 5G+ Standalone Support

Hopefully it won't be long before other MVNOs follow with 5G Standalone access, and that Three and its MVNOs also get 5G Standalone.

That being said, the speeds on Non-Standalone 5G are also impressive, as shown in the last minute of the video. Unfortunately, I cannot attach images, but I did a speedtest near a cell tower after finding its location on CellMapper, and got 1143Mbps download and 137Mbps upload with 16 ping. I believe this site hasn't been upgraded since VodafoneThree's merger because I got similar speeds in September 2025, but it is still impressive. This is with B1 (2100MHz) at 15MHz bandwidth, B3 (1800MHz) at 20MHz, B32 (1400MHz) at 20MHz and n78 (3500MHz) at 100MHz carrier aggregation (yes, your 5G non-standalone connection uses both 4G and 5G bands, where 5G is being 'carrier aggregated' to put it simply, which is called DCNR, specifically type EN-DC).

Slight rant below

As much as the improved network speeds and coverage benefits are exciting, I do still have concerns over certain decisions Vodafone could start making. For example, they implemented speed caps with Three and asked for extra money for the speed access they had before; article here: Three UK Suddenly Introduces Mobile Broadband Speed Caps UPDATE

Vodafone also announced SuperMobile (article here: Vodafone UK Launch Pay TV and 5G+ SuperMobile Broadband Service UPDATE), which is fancy business marketing for priority access implemented via 5G network slicing, which was originally meant to separate and give certain 5G IoT applications guaranteed service expectations like speeds and latency. It's not exactly a thing I like, and Three as far as I'm aware, is the only network that never prioritises people based on the price they pay, or if they were with an MVNO. This might go away once their Cores completely merge, as they say is eventually planned.

I'm also concerned about excessive use policies. Here's a Reddit post of a person getting a letter saying they used too much of their 'Unlimited' data plan: Whats the point in selling it as unlimited data if its not..?. As people in the post's comments say, Three doesn't care if you use 10 households worth of bandwidth every month, which were the only ones to do this and I believe the other MNOs notified you for excessive use.

Hopefully Vodafone doesn't start reducing these benefits that Three customers and its MVNOs have had for years and asking us to pay more for service and features we had before.