Virgin Media O2 has activated its mobile Giga Site in Paddington, London, marking a major milestone in boosting mobile connectivity for customers across the UK. The site leverages Nokia’s dual-band massive MIMO technology and combines low, mid, and high-band spectrum, including spectrum recently acquired from Vodafone UK.
This innovative deployment, one of the first live European rollouts of its kind, is capable of delivering over 10Gbps of throughput — enough to support 2,000 simultaneous 5Mbps HD video streams. By integrating multiple spectrum bands on a single mast, Virgin Media O2 can ensure wider coverage, higher capacity, and ultra-fast speeds, enhancing both 4G and 5G performance.
The site went live within minutes of receiving spectrum transferred from Vodafone UK and is part of Virgin Media O2’s Mobile Transformation Plan, a £700 million investment programme aimed at future-proofing its mobile network. The operator plans to deploy 1,000 Giga Sites nationwide in 2026, strengthening mobile coverage and capacity in cities, transport hubs, stadiums, and other high-demand areas.
Virgin Media O2 reported a decline of 15,700 total mobile connections in Q1 2025. Contract mobile customers of Virgin Media O2 fell by 122,800 during the quarter.
Dr Robert Joyce, Director of Mobile Access Engineering at O2, said: “The switch-on of Giga Site in central London is a really important demonstration of how we are investing and innovating to improve our mobile network and customer experience. These new sites will deliver faster speeds, greater capacity, and more reliable connections for our customers.”
Nokia, Virgin Media O2’s technology partner, highlighted the deployment as one of the first dual-band Massive MIMO deployments in Europe using its TDD carrier aggregation solution. Mark Atkinson, Head of Radio Access Networks at Nokia, said the collaboration will allow operators to unlock the potential of 5G spectrum and deliver the next wave of mobile services.
The rollout follows Virgin Media O2’s recent acquisition of 78.8 MHz of spectrum from Vodafone UK, boosting its overall spectrum share to about 30 percent of the UK market. The spectrum boost, alongside the Giga Site initiative, positions Virgin Media O2 to deliver faster speeds, better coverage, and improved reliability for millions of UK customers.
Baburajan Kizhakedath
