As part of its overal £11bn investment plan to build “the UK’s best network”, VodafoneThree has appointed Ericsson and Nokia as key partners in the delivery of 5G mobile infrastructure, signing contracts worth more than £2bn.
Three months into operation as a fully merged company, VodafoneThree operates as a multi-brand mobile strategy in the consumer market, with Vodafone, Three, VOXI, Smarty and Talkmobile remaining. Vodafone has a single brand for business customers, offering one team able to tailor systems to a customer’s needs, with the ambition to become the UK’s biggest converged network for business.
VodafoneThree claims to be the only UK operator with a quarter-by-quarter, year-by-year plan to reach 99.95% 5G standalone (5G SA) population coverage by 2034. The 5G SA network build-out plan is front-loaded so that it will hit 90% population coverage from a current baseline of 47% by the end of the third year, and up to 50 million people will have access to its fastest 5G speeds in just one year.
Through the use of the company’s multi-operator core network (MOCN) technology, VodafoneThree said that customers’ devices will automatically connect to the best coverage available, effectively giving them access to two networks at no extra cost. The operator believes this will see customers of both brands experience improved coverage, reliability and speed when using 4G and 5G networks.
The deals with Ericsson and Nokia will span an eight-year period and will see the installation of “the latest technology and R&D” to deliver 5G technology over the course of the forthcoming decade. Nokia and Ericsson will make up the majority of VodafoneThree’s network build which will culminate in a greater number of sites.
The agreement will see Ericsson will deploy its next-generation radio access network (RAN) and core network technology across the UK. In addition to modernising existing 4G and 5G infrastructure, the deployment of Ericsson RAN over 10,000 sites in the UK will look to underpin VodafoneThree’s population-wide rollout of 5G SA connectivity by 2034.
For its part, Nokia will supply equipment from its RAN portfolio to approximately 7,000 sites across the UK. Nokia will also modernise part of VodafoneThree’s voice core to deliver the operator’s premium connectivity to it customers nationwide with improved speeds, coverage, capacity and a smooth transition to 5G Standalone networks.
Four British based site-build partners with extensive experience – Beacon Communication Services Limited, Circet Wireless Limited, M Group Limited and WHP Telecoms Limited – will accompany the technology partners, delivering vital work to enable the build across the UK.
Commenting on the deployments, Max Taylor, CEO, VodafoneThree, said: “We said we would deliver at pace and, just a few months in, we are delighted to announce our strategic partners, Ericsson and Nokia, that will work with us to deliver our ambition of building the UK’s best network. They bring the scale and expertise needed to accelerate the delivery of a resilient, secure, world-class and future-ready network, and together, we are laying the foundations for the UK’s digital future.”
Ericsson president and CEO Börje Ekholm said: “We are proud to partner with VodafoneThree as their primary vendor to power them with the most advanced programmable network products, software and solutions in the world. Trusted high-performing programmable networks are critical to success for the UK’s digital economy. AI, automation and virtual/augmented reality won’t reach their potential without them.”
Nokia president and CEO Justin Hotard added: “Today’s networks need new levels of performance, trust and resilience. We are pleased that VodafoneThree has chosen our industry-leading network solutions to build a future-proof 5G Standalone network across the UK to meet the needs of customers today and as the AI super-cycle accelerates.”
