Virgin Media
Virgin Media O2 named Ericsson its primary RAN partner in a five-year extension powering its UK 5G Standalone network.
Description
Virgin Media O2 has named Ericsson as its primary radio access network (RAN) partner under a five-year partnership extension worth several hundred million euros, announced in March 2026. Ericsson will power the majority of Virgin Media O2's nationwide UK radio network as part of the operator's Mobile Transformation Plan, deploying multiband Massive MIMO equipment including the AIR 3229 and Radio 4486 across new and existing sites.
The upgrade will let Virgin Media O2 migrate more customers onto its 5G Standalone network, which already reaches 87 percent of the UK population, and is structured to support future evolution toward Cloud RAN and 5G-Advanced. The partnership also includes AI- and machine learning-based software to optimize network performance in real time, building on a long-standing relationship that has included multiple prior network modernization agreements since 2020.
Benefits
Ericsson's primary RAN partner in the UK
Five-year partnership extension worth hundreds of millions
5G SA network reaching 87% of the UK population
Services
5g ran modernization
5g standalone network
Ai-driven network optimization