Virgin Media O2 said the project uses spectrum recently transferred from Vodafone UK
In sum – what to know:
UK-first 5G Giga Site – Virgin Media O2 has switched on its first “giga site” in London using multi-band spectrum and Nokia’s dual-band massive MIMO technology.
1,000-site rollout planned – The operator plans to expand the model nationwide next year as part of its £700 million mobile network modernization program.
Spectrum from Vodafone – Newly transferred spectrum from Vodafone UK was activated immediately, boosting Virgin Media O2’s total spectrum holdings to about 30% of the UK market.
Virgin Media O2 has activated what it describes as the U.K.’s first “giga site” in Paddington, London, combining newly acquired spectrum from Vodafone with Nokia’s dual-band massive MIMO technology to enhance network performance and capacity.
The new site integrates low, mid, and high-band spectrum to deliver broader coverage, higher capacity, and faster speeds. The deployment represents one of the first live uses of Nokia’s dual-band massive MIMO and TDD carrier aggregation technologies in Europe, the telco said.
Tthe site can provide over 10 Gbps of total throughput, reckons the compan, and support 2,000 simultaneous HD video streams.
The project uses spectrum recently transferred from Vodafone UK. Virgin Media O2 said it plans to deploy around 1,000 of these sites across the country over the next year as part of its £700 million ($940 million) mobile transformation plan, aimed at strengthening 4G and 5G connectivity nationwide.
Virgin Media O2 previously agreed to acquire 78.8 megahertz of spectrum from Vodafone UK, raising its total spectrum share to about 30% of the UK’s mobile holdings. The rollout will focus on areas with high data demand, including transport corridors, airports, and dense urban centers.
Robert Joyce, director of mobile access engineering at O2, said: “These new sites will deliver faster speeds, greater capacity, and more reliable connections for our customers.”
Mark Atkinson, head of radio access networks at Nokia, added highlighted that this activation represents one of Europe’s first dual-band Massive MIMO deployments combined with Nokia’s TDD carrier aggregation solution.
Last month, the telco said it had activated its 5G Standalone (5G SA) network in 500 towns and cities across the U.K., covering more than 70% of the population, or approximately 49 million people.
