Ericsson has secured the primary radio access network contract for Virgin Media O2 to deploy advanced 5G Standalone architecture.
The telecoms industry is currently navigating a complex transition from providing basic connectivity to operating intelligent, software-defined platforms. Network operators, wholesale carriers, and enterprise IT directors face constant pressure to monetise their infrastructure while managing escalating data demands.
Highlighting this industry progression, Ericsson will become the primary radio access network partner for Virgin Media O2. This five-year partnership extension ensures Ericsson will power the majority of the service provider’s nationwide radio network across the UK. The contract guarantees Ericsson several hundred million Euros across the five-year period, representing a massive financial commitment to infrastructure modernisation.
Network traffic on Virgin Media O2 has more than doubled over the last five years alone, forcing the operator to seek greater spectral efficiency and hardware performance. Throwing more raw hardware at escalating data consumption is not a viable financial strategy for operators. Instead, telcos must extract maximum value from their existing spectrum assets while deploying highly efficient radio units.
To address these capacity requirements, the network enhancement will heavily focus on maximising the capabilities of the 5G mid-band spectrum that Virgin Media O2 acquired in 2025. Mid-band frequencies offer an ideal balance between broad geographic coverage and high data throughput, making them essential for dense urban deployments and enterprise applications.
By leveraging this spectrum, Virgin Media O2 intends to strengthen its position in UK 5G Standalone connectivity. Moving away from non-standalone architectures allows the network to operate entirely on a 5G core, reducing latency and enabling advanced routing capabilities.
Monetising the intelligent network
Today’s telcos rely on generating new revenue streams from enterprise clients. To achieve this, the network must become programmable. The deployment of Ericsson’s technology will introduce network programmability and intelligence, helping Virgin Media O2 utilise the full capabilities of its 5G Standalone network. This intelligence supports advanced, differentiated services through network slicing.
Network slicing is a highly-requested feature among enterprise IT directors managing automated logistics, manufacturing facilities, or sprawling campus environments. It allows the operator to partition the physical network into multiple virtual networks, each tailored to specific application, enterprise, and industry use cases. For example, a hospital might require an ultra-reliable, low-latency slice for remote robotic surgery equipment, while simultaneously running a separate, high-bandwidth slice for guest Wi-Fi.
Selling these guaranteed service level agreements creates entirely new billing models, improving Average Revenue Per User and reducing churn among high-value corporate clients. However, implementing network slicing requires deep integration between the radio access network and the operator’s legacy Business Support Systems and Operations Support Systems. The billing engine must communicate flawlessly with the network core to track slice usage, maintain service quality, and process charges accurately.
IT leaders at wholesale carriers relying on the Virgin Media O2 network will also need to ensure their own application programming interfaces are updated to provision these isolated network slices for their end-users.
Deploying next-generation radio hardware
At the physical layer, the investments aim at improving reliability, boosting capacity, and widening coverage across the nationwide network.
This upgrade features the deployment of a wide range of Ericsson Radio System products. Among these products are advanced, energy-efficient multiband Massive MIMO radios, specifically the AIR 3229 and the triple-band Radio 4486. These units will be installed at both new and existing locations.
Massive MIMO technology uses large arrays of antennas to transmit and receive multiple data beams simultaneously, drastically increasing the capacity of a single cell tower without requiring additional spectrum.
For TowerCos managing passive infrastructure, replacing legacy antennas with active multiband units like the AIR 3229 requires careful consideration of structural weight limits and wind load dynamics on existing masts.
Furthermore, the energy-efficient nature of these new Ericsson units addresses a massive operational expenditure for operators. Electricity costs for running thousands of cell sites remain a primary concern for CFOs, making power-efficient hardware a mandatory requirement for modern upgrades.
Patrick Johansson, Head of Europe, Middle East, and Africa at Ericsson, says: “Virgin Media O2 is a close and trusted customer and partner of Ericsson’s. That trust is reflected in the RAN footprint increase in this partnership extension where Ericsson will power the majority of Virgin Media O2’s radio network.”
Integrating AI into network operations
Hardware alone cannot manage the complexity of a modern telecoms network. The partnership includes the deployment of Ericsson’s AI and machine learning-based software. These intelligent software suites are designed to optimise network performance and efficiency intelligently and in real time.
For network engineers and operations centre staff, the integration of AI requires a massive cultural adaptation. Teams accustomed to manually configuring radio parameters must learn to supervise automated systems that dynamically adjust power levels, tilt angles, and resource allocation based on predictive traffic models.
During periods of low network demand, the machine learning algorithms can power down specific antenna sectors, conserving energy without degrading the user experience. IT directors should view this as a blueprint for their own enterprise networks, where intelligent automation is rapidly replacing manual oversight.
Jeanie York, CTO of Virgin Media O2, comments: “Our Mobile Transformation Plan is all about delivering a step-change in network performance for our customers, ensuring they have fast, reliable connectivity wherever they are.
“Ericsson is a long-standing partner in our network evolution and this agreement will help us accelerate the modernisation of our radio network, unlocking greater capacity, improved efficiency, and enhanced reliability for millions of people across the UK.”
Preparing for cloud RAN and future standards
The current network upgrade will enable Virgin Media O2 to transition a larger portion of its customer base onto the 5G Standalone network, which is already available to 87 percent of the UK population.
Reaching this percentage of the public provides a strong foundation for rolling out new consumer services, such as enhanced mobile gaming and immersive augmented reality applications, which require the low latency inherent to standalone architecture.
Looking ahead, the partnership is deliberately structured to support Virgin Media O2’s evolution toward Cloud RAN and to scale into future 5G-Advanced technologies. Cloud RAN represents a massive architectural change, decoupling the baseband software from proprietary hardware and running it on commercial off-the-shelf servers at the network edge.
This virtualisation process requires telcos to adopt multi-cloud environments, often partnering with major hyperscalers to manage the computational workloads. Implementing Cloud RAN demands new skillsets from engineering teams, who must become proficient in containerised software deployment, Kubernetes orchestration, and continuous integration pipelines.
Preparing for 5G-Advanced ensures the infrastructure will support upcoming global standards that promise even greater capacity, precise positioning services, and better support for massive IoT deployments. Leaders planning long-term smart city or automated logistics projects can confidently base their designs on this network trajectory, knowing the underlying infrastructure will support their future hardware lifecycles.
Completing the nationwide densification strategy
This 2026 enhanced partnership between Ericsson and Virgin Media O2 serves as the latest development in a long-standing relationship that builds upon the progress made during the 2025 investment tranche of the Mobile Transformation Plan.
The scope of that 2025 initiative included capacity and performance improvements achieved through the addition of new spectrum, broader network densification, and extensive small-cell deployments.
Small cells are vital for navigating the physical obstructions of urban environments, providing targeted coverage in areas where traditional macro towers cannot penetrate. The previous phase executed targeted upgrades at specific network hot spots, such as highly congested stadiums and busy transport hubs.
Furthermore, the 2025 tranche focused on extending coverage along major infrastructure routes, including railways and major roads. Providing consistent connectivity to travelling commuters remains a difficult engineering challenge due to the high speeds and the metallic shielding of train carriages.
The earlier investment also targeted previously underserved rural and coastal areas, ensuring a more equitable distribution of broadband access across the country.
By combining these earlier densification efforts with the newly-announced AI software and Massive MIMO hardware, Virgin Media O2 is establishing a highly capable, nationwide intelligent platform engineered for the next generation of digital services.
See also: Why Nvidia and Nokia are backing AI RAN specialist ODC
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