Virgin Media O2 mentioned its 5G SA community now covers greater than 70% of the nation’s inhabitants
In sum – what to know:
Largest 5G SA footprint in U.Okay. – Virgin Media O2 now covers 70% of the inhabitants, with 500 cities and cities included in its 5G SA rollout.
Community designed for future use instances – Constructed on a cloud-based 5G core, the community permits purposes like autonomous transport, digital well being, and robotics.
A part of £700m funding plan – Growth is linked to the corporate’s wider cell transformation plan, together with spectrum acquisition and focused small cell deployments.
U.Okay. service Virgin Media O2 has activated its 5G Standalone (5G SA) community in 500 cities and cities throughout the U.Okay., overlaying greater than 70% of the inhabitants, or roughly 49 million folks.
In a launch, the service claimed that this deployment marks the most important 5G SA deployment within the nation so far.
In every of the five hundred places the place 5G SA is obtainable, Virgin Media O2 stories that at the very least 90% out of doors protection is supplied.
The rollout continues as a part of Virgin Media O2’s cell transformation plan, which entails an estimated £700 million ($956 million) funding this yr into 4G and 5G growth, small cell deployments, and options for community bottlenecks in high-demand areas.
Jeanie York, chief expertise officer at Virgin Media O2, mentioned: “We’re investing £2 million each single day to enhance our cell community and supply a extra dependable expertise for our prospects. This customer-centric rollout is about futureproofing our community and can pave the best way for thrilling buyer led improvements that lie forward.”
In February, Virgin Media O2 activated its 5G Standalone (5G SA) community for enterprise prospects within the U.Okay., making it accessible to giant enterprises, public sector organizations and small and medium-sized companies on eligible plans.
The brand new infrastructure helps superior use instances similar to autonomous transport, distant healthcare, and absolutely automated manufacturing. It additionally permits community slicing – permitting for the creation of devoted connectivity for particular purposes similar to augmented actuality, gaming, and robotics.
In November 2024, Virgin Media O2 claimed to be the primary operator within the U.Okay. to change on 5G SA small cells. At launch, these had been put in in central Birmingham, enhancing connectivity in a few of the metropolis’s busiest areas. The compact cells had been mounted on present avenue furnishings to focus on zones with the very best information demand.
The deployment was carried out in partnership with Ontix and Alpha Wi-fi, using A number of Enter A number of Output (MIMO) expertise.
Virgin Media O2 formally launched its 5G SA community in 2024, with preliminary protection throughout London, Manchester, Liverpool, Lincoln, Birmingham, Sheffield, Glasgow, Newcastle, Leeds, York, Belfast, Cardiff, Nottingham, and Slough.
The operator was fashioned in June 2021 as a 50-50 three way partnership between Liberty World and Telefónica, following a merger authorised by the U.Okay.’s Competitors and Markets Authority (CMA) in Might 2020.
Virgin Media O2 additionally beforehand agreed to purchase 78.8 megahertz of spectrum from Vodafone UK, elevating its complete spectrum share to about 30% of the UK’s cell holdings and strengthening its community capability.
