Samsung Electronics and Virgin Media O2 announced the deployment of multiple live 4G and 5G sites in the U.K., yesterday. In addition, the companies completed the first 5G data call using Virgin Media O2’s commercial 5G network. Field trials were jointly carried out on the sites — located in Tamworth and the Peak District, England.
In addition, these field tests demonstrated interoperability between Virgin Media O2’s 2G/3G/4G networks and Samsung’s latest 4G and 5G solutions, and validated use of Samsung’s Dynamic Spectrum Sharing capabilities. The field tests followed lab tests conducted in October 2021, which validated the performance of Samsung’s 4G and 5G solutions on Virgin Media O2’s commercial network.
Virgin Media and O2 merged in June 2021 in a $38.55 billion joint venture between Liberty Global and Telefónica, which has close to 47 million customers across broadband, cellular, TV and home phones. Currently the U.K. cellular market is dominated by four mobile network operators – EE, Virgin Media O2, Three and Vodafone.
Virgin Media O2 employs around 18,000 people, has more than 425 retail stores and plans on creating 1,000 apprenticeships. Additionally, it has committed to investing at least $13 billion over the next five years.
Samsung provided its latest network solutions for trials — including 4G radios, 5G Massive MIMO radios and baseband units. The solutions cover a wide range of Virgin Media O2’s spectrum holdings, from low- to mid-band (800 MHz, 2.1 GHz and 3.5 GHz). Specifically, Samsung delivered its 5G 64T64R Massive MIMO radios for the 3.5 GHz spectrum, a major 5G spectrum band for the operator’s network.
The Samsung radios can be O-RAN compliant with some configuration changes and additional support. Open RAN technology has been at the forefront of Virgin Media O2’s network infrastructure strategy for over two years, with its first trials announced in early 2020. Samsung and Vodafone UK turned on the United Kingdom’s first 5G Open RAN site carrying live customer traffic in January, according to Vodafone UK.
Virgin Media O2 provides new competition for BT Group, which is the largest telecom player in the U.K., according to IG, a U.K. stockbroker. BT owns the largest 5G network in the country, European Economic, as well as the U.K.’s national broadband infrastructure, Openreach.
“Although BT is the natural leader in the U.K. due to its unique position in the market, this also means it has the biggest responsibility,” IG wrote. “The company is having to invest billions into both full-fiber broadband and 5G, and is facing increased competition after years of being accused of holding a monopoly in the U.K.”
By J. Sharpe Smith, Inside Towers Technology Editor
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