UK market leader EE reportedly lodged a complaint against rival 3 UK’s claim that it is the only operator in the country offering “real” next-generation 5G services and is seeking a ban on its advertising campaign.

The Guardian reported EE has informed the Advertising Standards Authority of its opposition to Three UK’s ad campaign, which runs under the tagline “if it’s not Three, it’s not real 5G”.

3 UK’s campaign ran in newspapers and social media ahead of its fixed wireless 5G launch yesterday (19 August), with its aggressive advertising play based on the fact that it claims to have the strongest position in terms of spectrum .

The company has said its 5G offering will be twice as fast as rivals in the country, as it owns three times more valuable 5G spectrum.

As well as spectrum assets acquired in regulator Ofcom’s auction in 2018, the company also boosted its 5G potential with the acquisition of UK Broadband in February 2017.

In the lead up to launch, 3 UK has also accused competitors of cutting corners to launch 5G quicker.

EE was the first UK operator to launch 5G, shortly followed by Vodafone UK.

3 UK plans to launch its mobile 5G network in 25 cities later this year, while the country’s other competitor, O2 UK, will roll out its offering in October.