How 5G is Changing International Travel Connectivity
What does 5G mean for travellers?
For most travellers, 5G means one thing: speed. Where 4G LTE might offer 20–50 Mbps in a busy city, 5G delivers 200–1000 Mbps under good conditions. In practical terms, this means:
- Downloading a city's offline map in seconds, not minutes
- Buffer-free 4K video calls home
- Near-instant uploads of photos and videos to social media
- Smooth video streaming on long train journeys
Where is 5G available for travellers?
As of 2025, significant 5G coverage exists in:
- USA and Canada: Major urban areas; T-Mobile leads in coverage
- UK: London, Manchester, Birmingham, Edinburgh and expanding
- Western Europe: Major cities across Germany, France, Netherlands, Spain
- South Korea and Japan: Near-nationwide 5G coverage in urban areas
- China: Extensive 5G network, though travellers need a VPN for most Western services
- UAE: Dubai and Abu Dhabi have comprehensive 5G
- Australia: Telstra's 5G covers major cities and surrounding suburbs
Does your eSIM support 5G?
If your device is 5G-compatible and the underlying carrier on your Vsimer plan supports 5G, you will connect to 5G automatically where available. There is nothing extra to configure — the network selection happens automatically. Check the Vsimer plan description for 5G availability in your destination.
The future: satellite connectivity
Beyond 5G, satellite-based internet (Starlink, OneWeb) is beginning to extend coverage to areas traditional cellular networks cannot reach. For remote travellers — hiking in Patagonia, sailing in the Pacific, overlanding in Africa — satellite connectivity is becoming a real option for emergency and navigation use.