ARC enables nearby mobile sites to coordinate in real time, combining spare capacity from multiple independent locations. This approach improves downlink performance by around 20% on average, with the potential to more than double speeds under optimal conditions. The technology also allows efficiency in scaling performance, keeping infrastructure costs low while delivering tangible improvements for customers.
BT Group’s fibre infrastructure plays a key role, providing ultra-low latency connections between sites, essential for ARC’s real-time coordination. The system operates with less than half a millisecond delay, making it highly effective in handling peak traffic in city centres, train stations, and high streets.
The service is already active in Manchester and Edinburgh, with plans to extend to nine more cities within the next year, including London, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool, Belfast, Cardiff, Newcastle, Sheffield, and Sunderland. Customers using the latest 5G standalone (5GSA) compatible devices on iOS and Android platforms will experience the largest benefits, such as faster video streaming and improved download speeds.
Alongside ARC, EE is accelerating its nationwide 5G standalone rollout. The network currently covers more than half of the UK population and will expand to 17 additional towns and cities by the end of December 2025. Locations scheduled to benefit include Basildon, Bolton, Brighton and Hove, Colchester, Gloucester, Lincoln, Maidstone, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Northampton, Oxford, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Reading, Southampton, Southend-on-Sea, Telford, and Hull.
EE aims to extend 5G standalone to more than 41 million people by spring 2026. With device makers such as Apple, Samsung, Google, Honor, Lenovo, and Microsoft continuing to release new 5GSA-compatible products, EE’s focus is to ensure its network delivers the required connectivity for a wide range of everyday uses.
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. For those people wanting to get the most out of the newest 5GSA-enabled smartphones, they need the UK’s best 5G network to match and that’s exactly what EE delivers.”
