Mobile network operator O2 (VMO2) revealed that it has implemented an advanced 4G (mobile broadband) policy in 150 rural sites (up from one hundred in mid-February 2024) as part of its commitment to the £1 billion shared rural network. (SRN), which aims to extend the 4G (aggregated) geographical policy to 95% of the UK until the end of 2025.
The industry-led SRN, subsidised by £500 million of public investment and £532 million from operators, is responsible for reciprocally sharing existing antennas in some spaces and structuring and sharing new antennas in others between demand-based cellular operators. But the 95% figure only applies when service is obtained from at least one operator, whereas the UK’s policy envisaged for the final touch of the SRN for all operators is only 84% for the same date (i. e. the geographies in which it will be able to take 4G from all providers).
The remote island of Eigg in Scotland’s Inner Hebrides, home to fewer than a hundred people, is home to Virgin Media O2’s 150th SRN site, 117 of which are in rural Scotland. While those 150 sites are controlled through O2, three UK consumers and Vodafone also benefit from the operator’s deployment on a shared access basis (EE was not affected in this facet of the SRN).
O2 had to use boats, helicopters and all-terrain vehicles to install a new 4G antenna on the island, which until now was only covered by a single supplier. The update gives citizens more options and will help many visitors stay connected for longer. the first time. .
Given the progress made across all carriers and related infrastructure sharing agreements, VMO2 consumers can now take advantage of faster 4G in more than two hundred rural areas.
Jeanie York, CTO of Virgin Media O2, said:
“We are proceeding to roll out our rural shared network at an immediate speed to ensure that more rural communities can access reliable cellular connectivity. Having delivered more sites than any other operator, our commitment to implementing this ambitious program and rural speeds is clear.
The 150 sites we’ve delivered will allow more rural residents, businesses and visitors to take advantage of increased cellular coverage, and dozens more are expected to be operational in the coming weeks. This painting aims to address the virtual divide between urban and rural spaces. that exists in the UK.
Julia Lopez, Minister of State for Data and Digital Infrastructure, said:
“Supported by government funding, Virgin Media O2’s immediate roll-out of the shared rural network is bringing greater 4G policy to rural communities across the UK. The finishing touch to its 150th mast on the Isle of Eigg in Scotland required the use of helicopters, boats and off-road cars to complete the structure and shows the UK government’s commitment to rural citizens and businesses, so that the British public can take advantage of connectivity, wherever they live.
Despite the progress, the National Audit Office (NAO) recently showed (here) that Three UK, Vodafone and O2 were likely to “fail to meet their legal responsibility to license Ofcom to supply 88% of the 4G policy until June 2024” (i. e. the partial notspots target). (SNP) and had asked to “discuss an 18-month extension of the SNP component of the program” (EA has already met this objective. At the moment, this only affects the PNS, and not the primary goal of Total Not-Spot (). TNS) until early 2027.
Just to recap. Ofcom’s licensing obligations dedicate individual operators to developing their 4G policy on 88% of the UK’s territory by June 2024 (and up to 90% by January 2027), and those individual obligations support the overall target of 95% by December 2025.
Last month, the government rejected calls to postpone the NSP target (here), albeit partly because this is something Ofcom wants to assess first (it is expected to reach a conclusion sometime in the autumn). The ultimate goal of the TNS policy can still be achieved over time (i. e. , it has provided some scope for conceivable program delays), even if there is a delay on the part of the PNS.
Three of them want to lift a finger on rural coverage.
I was in the Peak District the other week and back Three is giving full bars, but there is no charge as they will only implement the 20 band. Worse, in anticipation of 3G being disabled, you’re now stuck with 4G, so everyone is fighting for more than five MHz instead of employing 3G.
They have had Group 28 for 3 years, it is not yet installed in the spaces that they want it most. They just posted a message saying sorry, it’s busy here and leave it at that.
O2 a little bigger once again, just organization 20, no organization 8 or 28.
OFCOM will have to start holding operators to account for this. It doesn’t make sense for an operator to point to a policy of 90% of the territory, but 10% of this policy is five or 10 MHz without knowledge flows.
I have just moved to O2 after years of absence and I must say I am very impressed. They are under very bad pressure, but in Edinburgh, 5G policy has very few threshold points. Three, that’s crazy speed in some spaces and absolutely dead on the street next door. I wish everyone shared masts, but I realize it’s not that easy.
To be very clear about the Eigg mast, the island itself had masts and depended on covering the mainland, until EE built two small ESN masts a few years ago.
The small islands are an isolated part of Scotland. The adjacent island, Rum, had no cover until recently. An EE mast was the subject of more than a number of plans to request that it be allowed to install a mast in the wild after all.
None of this surprises me, and O2 doesn’t do great PR about other MNOs lagging either. Out of interest, does the new NRS site simply overlap with EE’s existing NRS coverage, or does either network offer a single service?
Vodafone has a broader geographic policy than EE, and has done so for years. Their challenge is not the lack of sites, but that too many sites are/were only 3G (now 2G) and I guess this will be solved over time.
EE’s 4G policy is broad and impressive and certainly clears the way with its competition; however, for ESN, it is confusing that EE has been selected while Vodafone has more (much more) policy for phone calls, albeit only 2G as before.
I’d like EE to roll out more Band 20 and I’d like Vodafone to roll out 4G across all of their sites. If Vodafone did this, they would have the largest one-mile 4G policy; however, for some reason, they can’t/don’t. Which is frustrating!
O2 has a similar (identical?) 2G/3G policy to Vodafone’s, but unfortunately, spectrum allocations are poor (although this also represents a major challenge in rural spaces; it is in urban spaces that they face many challenges). But O2 is content to rely too much on 2G/3G!
What a shame. EE will have to be laughing.
EE is deploying Band 20 at several sites in Band 3 alone.
They have updated at least 3 sites in the city where I was in the last few months. It makes a big difference.
Why are we still deploying 4G when cincoG has been around for five years?
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