Bristol City Council has provided Cellnex with access to lamposts to install small cells capable of increasing mobile coverage and capacity.
The initial phase covers 25 sites, 12 of which are already live, with the remaining sites expected to be operational within weeks.
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Councillor Tony Dyer, leader of Bristol City Council said: “It’s exciting to see how we can enhance connectivity across Bristol for our residents and businesses. This partnership is a vital component of our wider strategy to prioritise high-quality digital access city-wide to support our vibrant and innovative community.”
Small cells are low-powered radio access nodes that enhance connectivity in localised areas. They tend to feature ranges of no more than a few kilometres and are designed to be deployed in densely populated urban areas, where demand for high bandwidth mobile service can often exceed supply.
The project adds to Cellnex’s existing small cell deployments, which now cover 1,200 units deployed across the UK.
VMO2 has also moved of late to deploy small cells, including 5G standalone units in Birmingham city centre.
Paul Stonadge, commercial director at Cellnex UK, said, “In today’s increasingly digital world, it is crucial for our towns and cities across the UK to keep up. Small cell technology allows us to deliver localised mobile connectivity precisely where it is needed to meet the growing demand and expectation from customers.”
“At Virgin Media O2, our customers are at the heart of everything we do and these small cells will significantly improve their mobile network experience in the city of Bristol,” said Steven Verigotta, director of radio and mobile backhaul delivery at VMO2.
“We are committed to ensuring that our customers can fully benefit from seamless connectivity wherever they are, by continuing to invest in our network to support this.”
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