It will invest more than £700 million on new masts, small cells, 4G and 5G upgrades, underpinned by deploying additional spectrum as part of a wider £2bn upgrade programme
Virgin Media O2 says it is “to supercharge network reliability with £700 million Mobile Transformation Plan”. The programme will also boost connectivity for customers on railways, along main roads, stadia, city centres and areas of no coverage or ‘not-spots’.
The operator’s Mobile Transformation Plan will see the operator invest around £2 million a day on its mobile network, equivalent to about £700 million this year, to improve reliability, speed and coverage.
This investment programme is in response to the demands on the mobile network reaching an all-time high – traffic has more than doubled in the last five years – and is itself part of Virgin Media O2’s wider £2 billion investment this year in its fixed and mobile networks and services.
Investment programme
The programme includes investment in mobile infrastructure and core network upgrades. The programme will focus on expanding 4G and 5G coverage to not-spots in rural and coastal areas, rolling out small cells to boost capacity in densely populated urban areas, and addressing persistent ‘pain points’ in coverage, such as along railway lines, at airports, on motorways and in stadia and arenas.
Virgin Media O2 will more tightly integrate its mobile and fixed infrastructure, using its own fibre network to connect mobile sites, the operator will improve the resilience and speed at which it can deploy new mobile infrastructure.
In hard-to-reach locations, it will use satellite technology to connect Virgin Media O2’s towers as a cost-effective solution to bring coverage.
Network hotspots, like as stadia and transport hubs, will benefit from partnerships and bespoke solutions, according to the operator. They will include distributed antenna systems (DAS) to increase throughput and deliver better customer experience.
2025 is a year of evolution
Virgin Media O2 will deploying additional spectrum, harness AI and decommission outdated parts of the network, including 3G infrastructure so it can invest in networks that are more energy efficient and have higher capacity. Apparently AI “will enable the operator to unlock efficiencies that will be reinvested to improve the network experience”.
Jeanie York, Chief Technology Officer, Virgin Media O2 (pictured), said, “Our Mobile Transformation Plan combines the necessary financial investment with the latest technological innovation to make this a reality. We’re not just upgrading infrastructure; we’re creating a platform for future innovation.
“This programme ensures our customers will continue to benefit from superior reliability as new technologies and demands emerge.”
Shared Rural Network
Last June Virgin Media O2 completed its commitments to the first phase of the Shared Rural Network (SRN) programme in the UK. In a statement, the operator said it has built more shared sites than any other carrier to improve cellular coverage in 227 areas designated as partial not-spots – including Glencoe in Scotland (pictured above) where the mast is 1km above sea level.
The SRN’s target is to connect – or better connect – the UK’s most remote areas. The government has pledged to £501 million of public funding and between them the operators are stumping up £532 million. As the scheme’s name suggests, the SRN involves reciprocal sharing of existing masts in certain areas plus the construction and sharing of new masts in others, with the locations dictated by demand.
The target was to extend geographic 4G coverage to 90% of the UK by the end of 2025, although only 84% of the UK will have geographic coverage from all four operators by then. Aggregate coverage is schedule to reach 95% of the landmass by 2027, but it was reported in the The Telegraph newspaper that the government is considering withdrawing its support.
ISPReview offers a clear, concise explanation of the intricacies and progress of the SRN here.
