Virgin Media O2 partners with Ericsson and Nokia for mobile network upgrade

Virgin Media O2 has signed multi-year agreements worth “hundreds of millions” of pounds with Ericsson and Nokia to upgrade its UK mobile network as part of its mobile transformation plan.

Virgin Media O2 said the partnerships will support the evolution of its 5G+ network and allow the companies to conduct trial projects. The deal will also enable capabilities such as network slicing, paving the way for future 5G-Advanced services.

The move will see the company upgrade the majority of its radio access network (RAN) to 5G+ technology, which it said will improve performance for “millions” of customers across the country.

Next-generation radios and baseband equipment will be installed across “thousands” of sites, which the operator said will increase capacity in busy areas while extending coverage and improving reliability.

The upgrade will also enable Virgin Media O2 to make better use of its recently acquired spectrum to meet growing demand for mobile data, which the company said has more than doubled over the past five years.

As part of the modernisation, Virgin Media O2 said it is deploying more energy-efficient equipment and AI software to optimise network performance in real time.

The operator will also shift to multiband radios, which it said will bring operational and environmental benefits by replacing multiple radios per site, simplifying deployment and acquisition while reducing energy consumption.

Jeanie York, chief technology officer at Virgin Media O2, said the long-term agreements with Ericsson and Nokia will help the company to increase capacity, improve coverage and enhance reliability across the UK.

“Demand for mobile data continues to grow at pace and we are investing in the infrastructure needed to deliver a faster, more resilient network that can keep up with our customers’ expectations,” she said. “Last year, we added one Tbps of capacity to our network, and we plan to add more than double that this year as we work to build one of the UK’s most reliable mobile networks.”