After having claimed a UK first in November 2024 with the deployment of the existing street furniture in Birmingham to increase mobile capacity in exceptionally busy areas surrounding main thoroughfares, Virgin Media O2 (VMO2) now believes businesses throughout Plymouth are benefitting from an improved mobile experience and faster speeds after six new small cells were installed across the city.
Small cells are intrinsically engineered to provide a cost-effective solution to improving network capacity in dense urban environments, commercial centres and visitor hotspots. Outdoor small cells are installed at street level, which makes them ideal for adding capacity to mobile networks, given that in busy urban areas, where large numbers of people use their mobiles simultaneously, demand on the macro network can be substantial.
They are also designed to alleviate a proportion of demand, offering support to the macro mobile network and a better user experience. Unlike traditional mobile towers, small cells are discreetly installed on existing street furniture, specifically targeting areas where demand for data is highest.
Against a backdrop of rising demand, with the amount of mobile data consumed by its mobile communications customers having been measured to have increased significantly over the past two years, the deployment is part of VMO2’s broader network upgrade strategy, installing the UK’s first small cells in the UK using 5G standalone technology, boosting mobile connectivity for customers.
With over five million tourists visiting Plymouth each year, the small cells will provide a network capacity boost in these high-footfall areas, helping both residents and visitors. Just like in the Birmingham deployment, the small cell technology is already boosting mobile capacity and reducing network traffic in some of the city’s busiest areas. The cells have been deployed in areas where customer demand on the network is highest, including at the busy Drake Circus shopping centre and at the popular Theatre Royal.
VMO2 has connected the majority of the newly deployed small cells to its existing fibre network, a move the operator says enabled it to get its services live faster than would otherwise be possible.
Just weeks ago, VMO2 committed to investing approximately £700m to enhance reliability, speed and coverage on its network to deliver “a step change” in performance to help deliver the “best possible” experience for customers. This is part of the operator’s ongoing Mobile Transformation Plan, which includes major investments in mobile infrastructure and core network upgrades, and forms part of VMO2’s wider £2bn investment this year in its fixed and mobile networks and services.
O2 director of mobile access engineering Robert Joyce said: “At Virgin Media O2, we are investing around £2m per day and constantly innovating to bring reliable mobile coverage to all our customers. These small cells, powered by our existing fibre network, will improve the mobile experience in some of Plymouth’s most popular locations.”
The roll-out has been delivered in partnership with small cell provider Ontix. The company’s CEO, Laura Fernandez, said: “This deployment represents a milestone in our partnership with Virgin Media O2. By integrating small cell technology with their established fibre network, we’ve created a blueprint for urban connectivity that can be replicated across other UK cities.
“We’re focused on creating infrastructure models that deliver immediate connectivity benefits for consumers and long-term flexibility for future emerging technologies.”
