In response to demand reaching an all-time high on its mobile infrastructure, with traffic more than doubling in the past five years, Virgin Media O2 (VMO2) has committed to investing approximately £700m to enhance reliability, speed and coverage on its network to deliver “a step change” in performance to help deliver the “best possible” experience for customers.
The move is part of the operator’s ongoing Mobile Transformation Plan, which includes major investments in cutting-edge mobile infrastructure and core network upgrades. It forms part of VMO2’s wider £2bn investment this year in its fixed and mobile networks and services.
The transformation plan is designed to focus on investment into parts of the network that experience the highest levels of demand and areas where connectivity is most critical. Priority areas where the operator is looking to deliver significant improvements include railways roads, dense urban areas, hard-to-reach remote locations, stadiums and venues.
By bringing its mobile and fixed networks closer together and using its own fibre network to connect mobile sites, VMO2 is confident that it can improve the resilience and speed at which it can deploy new mobile infrastructure. In hard-to-reach locations, satellite technology will also be used to connect the company’s towers offering a cost-effective way to tackle remote signal not-spots.
Assessing what the operator is aiming to do, VMO2 chief technology officer Jeanie York stressed that the company was not just upgrading infrastructure, but that it was creating a platform for future innovation.
“Virgin Media O2 is committed to providing our customers with a reliable connectivity experience wherever they are,” she said. “Our mobile transformation plan combines the necessary financial investment with the latest technological innovation to make this a reality. This programme ensures our customers will continue to benefit from superior reliability as new technologies and demands emerge.”
The new programme will be focused on expanding 4G and 5G coverage to historic not-spots in rural and coastal areas, a dedicated small cells rollout to boost capacity in dense urban areas, and solutions to address persistent network pain points including along railway lines, at airports, on motorways and in stadiums and arenas.
In addition, VMO2 believes that network hotspots such as stadiums and transport hubs will benefit from innovative partnerships and bespoke solutions including distributed antenna systems (DAS) designed to significantly increase throughput and customer experience in some of the most high-demand locations.
In a particular use case, DAS and dedicated networks will be deployed to ensure uninterrupted connectivity for attendees at live events. This ranks in the top 10 for the general public when it comes to desire for unfaltering connectivity
VMO2 said it will carry out major programmes to evolve its mobile network to be fit for the future, including deploying additional spectrum, harnessing artificial intelligence and decommissioning outdated parts of the network, including the 3G network.
VMO2 said decommissioning this legacy network will allow it to focus investment into more energy efficient and higher capacity future networks, and harnessing AI will enable the operator to unlock efficiencies that will be reinvested to improve the network experience.
