In an announcement made by Vodafone, it was revealed that the two companies have extended their partnership, so that Lebara will be able to offer 5G services over Vodafone’s network. Find out more about Lebara 5g services below.

The deal is set to run for three and a half years, but given that Lebara Mobile has been offering 4G (and before that just 3G) services through Vodafone since 2007, we’d think it’s likely that Vodafone will be the network’s 5G partner for a lot longer than that.

The announcement doesn’t say exactly when 5G will be switched on for Lebara’s customers, and the plans on its site still just advertise 4G at the time of writing, but the wording suggests the 5G launch is imminent.

Whenever its 5G service launches, its partnership with Vodafone means that it will be able to offer 5G in at least 100 UK towns and cities on day one, with coverage likely to grow rapidly.

4G Calling and extended roaming

But that’s not all this extended partnership will bring, as Lebara Mobile will also be able to offer 4G Calling from later this year as a result, meaning customers can make calls over 4G, rather than just 2G and 3G.

As part of the extended partnership, Lebara Group will also use Vodafone’s Sponsored Roaming service to give its customers roaming in 215 countries. Lebara has operations in Germany, France, the UK, the Netherlands and Denmark.

Vishal Dixit, Strategy & Wholesale Director at Vodafone UK, said: “The extension of our 14-year relationship with Lebara is testament to working in a true partnership. We’re delighted to be able to ensure Lebara Mobile customers can access the latest technologies that will give them improved coverage, reliability and speed, as well as access to Vodafone’s network when they are abroad. We look forward to continuing to work with Lebara, helping them achieve their growth ambitions.”

Rajesh Dongre, Commercial Director at Lebara UK, said: “Vodafone have been a fantastic partner to work with and have fully supported us with our ambition to broaden our appeal, and the extension to our agreement will allow us to accelerate this approach. Our partnership with Vodafone will also provide some of the very latest innovations, such as 5G, at a time when connected devices are playing an increasingly central role in all our lives. We are really excited to be bringing new features to our customers and are confident they will find Lebara Mobile offers a great choice of services.”

Lebara Mobile is far from the first MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) to offer 5G, with BT Mobile, Sky Mobile, Tesco Mobile, VOXI, Giffgaff, Virgin Mobile, Asda Mobile and iD Mobile all getting there first, but it’s still ahead of a number of UK networks. lebara 5g