Samsung & Virgin Media O2 install live 4G/5G sites in the UK

Virgin Media O2 and Samsung Electronics have announced that the companies have successfully completed the deployment of various live 4G and 5G sites across the United Kingdom, advancing the next stage of their collaboration.

Simultaneously with this deployment, the firms also completed the first 5G data call on Virgin Media O2’s commercial 5G network, using the sites.

As per credible sources, since the beginning of this year, field trials were carried out on the sites located in the Peak District and Tamworth in England.

After a series of successful lab tests done in October 2021, the firms validated the performance and capability of 4G and 5G solutions by Samsung on commercial network of Virgin media’s O2.

Additionally, these field tests showcased interoperability amongst Samsung’s latest 4G and 5G solutions and Virgin Media O2’s 2G/3G/5G networks and validate the use of Dynamic Spectrum Sharing capabilities of Samsung in case they are required.

According to reports, Samsung offered its recent network solutions for trials including 5G Massive MIMO radios, 4G radios, and basebands units. The solutions cover a wide range of Virgin Media O2’s spectrum holdings, from low to mid band (800MHz, 2.1GHz and 3.5GHz).

Recently, Samsung delivered a major 5G spectrum band for the operator’s network, which was 5G 64T64R a Massive MIMO radios for the 3.5GHz spectrum.

These radios are commercially deployed on a huge scale in the international markets, currently offering mobile services to millions of customers.

Apparently, this solution along with Samsung’s baseband unit will provide high data capacity and improved coverage to enhance 5G customer mobile experience.

For the record, the Samsung radio solution used for this trial can also be O-RAN compliant with additional support and configuration changes, making it ready to leverage various advantages of new technology in the future.

Source Credit: - https://news.samsung.com/global/samsung-and-virgin-media-o2-deploy-multiple-live-4g-and-5g-sites