Virgin Media O2 and Ericsson Extend Partnership to Enhance 4G, 5G Coverage Across UK

Reported by Srikapardhi March 17th, 2023 at 02:40 pm

The new multi-million-pound contract will see Ericsson deploy its latest-generation products and solutions in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. As part of network modernization, Ericsson will also deploy small cell solutions.

Highlights

Virgin Media O2 is set to become one of the first Communications Service Providers in Europe to trial Ericsson's Cloud RAN Solution.
Ericsson's latest quad-technology baseband, multiband 5G Massive MIMO radio AIR 3258, will be deployed.
Network modernization to include hardware, software and service enhancements as part of a program to improve Virgin Media O2 customers' 4G and 5G connectivity.

Ericsson and Virgin Media O2 have announced that they have renewed their Network partnership agreement. The new multi-million pound contract will see Ericsson deploy its advanced Radio System Portfolio products in the expansion of the telco's 4G and 5G coverage and capacity in major cities and towns across the UK.

Also Read: Chunghwa Telecom and Ericsson Collaborate for 5G and Beyond

Ericsson to Deploy its Latest Product Portfolio

Ericsson will deploy its latest-generation products and solutions in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. As part of network modernization, Ericsson will also deploy small cell solutions that will see Virgin Media O2 customers in major UK cities, including Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Sheffield, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Belfast, benefit from enhanced mobile capacity, improved coverage, faster speeds and better 4G and 5G experiences.

Virgin Media O2 to trial Ericsson Cloud RAN Solution

As part of the agreement, Virgin Media O2 is set to become one of the first Communications Service Providers (CSPs) in Europe to trial Ericsson's Cloud RAN Solution.

Also Read: Ofcom Launches Consultation for mmWave Spectrum

Ericsson Quad-technology Baseband

Ericsson's latest quad-technology baseband, multiband 5G Massive MIMO radio AIR 3258, will be deployed, enhancing 5G performance and increasing the energy efficiency of the Network with up to 30 per cent reduction in energy use. According to Ericsson, the 40 per cent reduction in weight and volume of equipment will impact site infrastructure and help accelerate network deployment.

According to Virgin Media O2, with this multi-million pound investment in its network, customers can benefit from more reliable and faster services while reducing overall carbon emissions.

Also Read: Telefonica, Ericsson and Qualcomm Launch 5G mmWave Network in Spain

In July 2021, Virgin Media O2 announced that it had selected Ericsson 5G Core to power its Standalone 5G Network. With this Agreement, Virgin Media O2 brought its 4G, 5G Non-standalone and 5G Standalone services into a single fully integrated Ericsson dual-mode 5G Core hosted on Ericsson cloud infrastructure in Virgin Media O2's data centres. The two companies collaborating first launched 5G commercial services in 2019, and an extended 5G rollout and network modernization began in 2020.

Reported By

Srikapardhi Telecom Analyst

Passionately following the Indian #Telecom Industry for over a decade from Business, Consumer and a Technical perspective. My primary focus area is Consumer & Digital Experience.