The company aims to significantly enhance network reliability, speed, and coverage across the UK, ensuring customers benefit from a superior mobile experience.
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This substantial investment comes in response to record-breaking mobile network demand, with traffic more than doubling over the past five years.
The programme will deliver major upgrades, including new masts, small cells, and the expansion of 4G and 5G coverage, alongside increased automation and additional spectrum deployment.
Addressing network challenges
The investment will focus on improving connectivity in key locations where demand is highest and where reliable service is most critical.
VMO2 will expand coverage in rural and coastal areas, tackle long-standing ‘not-spots’, and roll out small cells to boost capacity in densely populated urban areas.
Significant improvements are also planned for transport networks, ensuring better connectivity along railway lines, at airports, on motorways, and in stadiums and arenas.
By integrating its mobile and fixed networks and using its own fibre infrastructure to connect mobile sites, the company aims to improve network resilience and accelerate infrastructure deployment.
In remote areas, satellite technology will be used to extend coverage, providing a cost-effective solution to improve connectivity in hard-to-reach locations.
Network hotspots such as stadiums and transport hubs will benefit from innovative partnerships and bespoke solutions, including Distributed Antenna Systems (DAS), which are designed to enhance throughput and improve customer experience in high-demand areas.
In 2025, VMO2 will take major steps to modernise its mobile network, deploying additional spectrum, harnessing AI, and retiring outdated infrastructure, including its legacy 3G network.
This transition will allow the company to focus investment on more energy-efficient, higher-capacity technologies. AI will also be used to unlock efficiencies, with the savings reinvested into further improving network performance.
The plan prioritises investment in areas where connectivity is essential, including:
Railways: Enhancing connectivity for passengers at stations and onboard trains, one of the top three locations where the public seeks improved mobile service.
Roads: Strengthening coverage along motorways and major routes to ensure reliable service, particularly for the two-thirds of Brits who rely on mobile connectivity for GPS navigation.
Urban centres: Expanding small cell deployments in major cities to boost capacity in the busiest locations.
Remote areas: Addressing long-standing connectivity challenges with innovative solutions such as satellite backhaul to connect the most difficult-to-reach parts of the UK.
Stadiums and venues: Deploying DAS and dedicated networks to provide seamless connectivity at live events, which rank among the top 10 locations where the public expects uninterrupted service.
Commitment to connectivity
Jeanie York, CTO at VMO2 said: "Virgin Media O2 is committed to providing our customers with a reliable connectivity experience wherever they are.
“Our mobile transformation plan combines the necessary financial investment with the latest technological innovation to make this a reality."
"We’re not just upgrading infrastructure; we’re creating a platform for future innovation. This programme ensures our customers will continue to benefit from superior reliability as new technologies and demands emerge."
This initiative is part of VMO2's broader £2 billion investment in its fixed and mobile networks and services this year.
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