Virgin Media O2 has deployed 24 new small cells across Westminster to strengthen mobile coverage and network capacity in one of London’s busiest and most congested boroughs.
Installed in high-demand locations, the compact mobile infrastructure will improve the experience of customers making calls, sending messages and accessing mobile data. The network upgrade will support residents, businesses, commuters, tourists and other visitors across Westminster’s commercial areas, busy streets and public spaces.
The deployment forms part of O2’s £700 million Mobile Transformation Plan, which aims to future-proof the operator’s UK mobile network through targeted infrastructure investment during the year.
O2 Small Cells Boost Capacity in Busy Westminster Locations
Westminster experiences exceptionally high mobile traffic due to its concentration of businesses, government institutions, transport facilities, tourist attractions and retail destinations. O2 is using small cells to add capacity precisely where mobile demand is greatest.
Small cells are compact mobile units that can be installed on existing street infrastructure, including lamp posts. Their discreet design makes them suitable for Westminster, where conservation protections and additional planning restrictions can make the deployment of larger mobile infrastructure more challenging.
The street-level units help reduce pressure on the wider mobile network by providing additional capacity in densely populated locations. This can deliver more reliable connectivity in city centres, commercial districts, transport hubs and visitor hotspots.
O2 Expands UK Small Cell Network Beyond 2,500 Sites
The 24-site Westminster rollout expands O2’s nationwide small cell programme. The operator now has more than 2,500 live small cell sites across the UK, which it says is the largest deployment by any UK mobile network operator.
O2 has already introduced small cells in locations including Bath, Plymouth, Bristol, Swansea and Guildford. The operator is targeting areas where heavy mobile usage and limited space for traditional infrastructure create capacity challenges.
Professor Robert Joyce, Director of Mobile Access Engineering at O2, said the Westminster deployment would add network capacity where customers need it most and help O2 keep pace with changing mobile usage.
The project demonstrates how O2 is directing its approximately £700 million network investment toward targeted improvements in high-traffic areas. The Mobile Transformation Plan is designed to improve capacity, reliability and customer experience while preparing the network for future growth in mobile data demand.
O2 is investing £700 million in its UK mobile network during 2026, equivalent to approximately £2 million per day, as part of Virgin Media O2’s Mobile Transformation Plan. The spending follows a similar £700 million investment in 2025, indicating mobile-network investment of approximately £1.4 billion across the two years.
The 2026 programme focuses on increasing network capacity, coverage, reliability and speed through new mobile masts, small cells, 4G and 5G upgrades, additional spectrum and automation. O2 is also using its fixed-fibre infrastructure to connect mobile sites and support higher-capacity backhaul.
A central target is the deployment of 1,000 Giga Sites across the UK in 2026. O2 activated its 500th Giga Site in North Elgin in July, reaching the halfway point. These advanced sites combine low-, mid- and high-band spectrum with Massive MIMO technology and can provide 10 times more capacity than the infrastructure they replace.
O2’s investment is responding to mobile data traffic that has more than doubled over the past five years. After adding 1 Tbps of network capacity in 2025, the company plans to add more than twice that amount during 2026.
Ericsson and Nokia Support O2 Network Modernisation
Virgin Media O2 has signed multi-year contracts worth hundreds of millions of pounds with Ericsson and Nokia. The agreements will upgrade the majority of O2’s radio access network and modernise thousands of mobile sites with next-generation radios, baseband equipment and 5G+ technology.
BABURAJAN KIZHAKEDATH
