Nokia said that the agreement with Virgin Media O2 covers the Southern parts of the United Kingdom including London
Nokia secured a new three-year deal with Virgin Media O2 to supply Radio Access Network (RAN) equipment from its AirScale portfolio, effectively expanding an ongoing partnership between the two companies.
In a release, the Finnish vendor said that the new deal will see Virgin Media O2 invest in 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G networks. The agreement covers the southern parts of the United Kingdom, including London.
Under the terms of the contract, Nokia will supply Virgin Media O2 with its latest generation of Habrok massive MIMO radios and AirScale baseband and Interleaved passive active antennas (IPAA), both powered by its new generation of ReefShark system-on-chip (SoC) technology. Nokia explained that this equipment uses 30% less energy and provides a 40% reduction in weight and volume.
Nokia will also supply its Single RAN solution that enables one base station to run 5G, 4G, 3G and 2G technologies simultaneously. Nokia highlighted that the deployment of this technology will help enable the U.K. telco to accelerate its 5G coverage rollout. Virgin Media O2 will also use Nokia’s NetAct network management system to enable a consolidated network view for improved network monitoring and management. The deal also stipulates that Nokia will provide digital design and deployment as well as optimization and technical support services.
As part of the contract, the U.K. carrier has the option to launch a pilot of Nokia’s commercial intelligent controller to demonstrate advanced 5G use cases. The agreement also means that Virgin Media O2 may pilot 5G Cloud RAN in the future.
Jeanie York, CTO at Virgin Media O2, said: “We continue to invest in our network upgrading and expanding our 4G and 5G networks to customers across the country. This is delivering superior connected experiences and supporting the UK’s digital transformation that will drive long-term growth. Continuing our partnership with Nokia will help us to deliver even better 5G with higher speeds and lower latency, as well as ensuring we are set up for future growth in line with our customers’ ever-evolving demands and needs.”
In April, Virgin Media O2 had selected U.S. company Mavenir as its Open RAN (O-RAN) vendor. The telco noted that Mavenir will also be the prime integrator, providing its Open virtualized Radio Access Network (Open vRAN) solution for sites on Virgin Media O2’s network.
Meanwhile, in March, Virgin Media O2 and Ericsson announced they will boost 4G and 5G coverage and capacity to major cities and towns across the U.K. as part of a renewed network partnership agreement. The two companies have agreed on a new contract to deploy the latest products and solutions from the Ericsson Radio System portfolio in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Virgin Media O2’s 5G network reached 1,600 towns and cities across the country as of the end of last year. In its latest earnings release, the telco said it was on track to deliver 5G services to 50% of the U.K. population during 2023.
Virgin Media O2 had launched services in June 2021 as a joint venture between Liberty Global and Telefónica in the U.K.