The so-called Giga Site, supporting 3700/2600 MHz TDD Massive MIMO, is in London which has notoriously bad mobile connectivity for a European city
Virgin Media O2 has switched on its first so-called “Giga Site” in London, with the launch made possible by new spectrum secured in a transfer deal with Vodafone UK following the merger of Vodafone and Three.
The site in Paddington brings together low, mid and high-band spectrum using Nokia’s dual-band massive MIMO kit. VMO2 claims it is one of the first live European deployments to combine different spectrum layers on a single mast with time division duplex (TDD) carrier aggregation. The site can deliver more than 10 Gbps of throughput – enough to support 2,000 simultaneous 5 Mbps HD video streams.
The new route to capacity is clear: by layering low, mid and high bands together on a single mast using dual-band, massive MIMO, the operator can support both broad coverage and high throughput.
Virgin Media O2 acquired 78.8 MHz of spectrum from Vodafone for £343 million earlier this year, raising its share of total UK spectrum to around 30%. The new holdings include 20 MHz of 1,400 MHz supplemental downlink, 18.8 MHz of 2,100 MHz FDD, 20 MHz of 2,600 MHz TDD, and 20 MHz of 3,400 MHz TDD.
London calling
The UK capital has been highlighted as one of Europe’s weakest cities for mobile experience. Network test and measurement company MedUX ranked London bottom among major European cities for 5G quality of experience earlier this year, citing poor availability, slower speeds and reliability issues. Another report found London’s 5G QoE ranked “among the worst on a list of major European cities.”
Even in the UK, London lags. Ookla recently found Londoners spend more time in mobile signal not-spots, or coverage gaps, and experience slower 5G speeds than residents of other UK cities – resulting in poorer performance in everyday tasks such as web browsing.
Rather than rely purely on densification or small cells, Virgin is betting that aggregating fresh TDD spectrum with its existing holdings will give it a decisive technical edge. The operator plans to deploy around 1,000 of these Giga Sites across the UK next year, targeting relief in crowded urban zones, rail corridors, stadiums and other bottlenecks.
London’s mobile rollout has been hampered by UK regulatory changes that slashed rooftop rental income for landlords by up to 90%, sparking thousands of disputes and discouraging site availability for network equipment at a time when densification was critical for 5G. Building owners in the capital have often preferred alternative uses such as rooftop bars or solar panels, reducing deployment options.
Further rules in 2022 eased some legal barriers but kept the low-rent model, leaving weak incentives, while stricter vendor controls forced operators to divert resources into network rebuilds rather than expansion.
New spectrum
“The switch on of our first Giga Site here in central London is a really important demonstration of how we are investing and innovating to continue improving our mobile network and customer experience,” said O2 director of mobile access engineering Dr Robert Joyce. “These new sites will deliver faster speeds, greater capacity, and more reliable connections for our customers.
He added: “As we carry out upgrades and roll out hundreds more Giga Sites across the country, we’ll put our new spectrum to work helping us keep improving mobile connectivity nationwide.”
“Our partnership with Virgin Media O2 to implement Giga Sites reflects our commitment to helping our customers differentiate with superior performance,” said Nokia head of radio access networks Mark Atkinson. “This is one of Europe’s first dual-band Massive MIMO deployment combined with our TDD carrier aggregation solution, which showcases how our latest high-performance radios and versatile carrier aggregation solutions allow operators to fully harness the power of their spectrum, enabling the next wave of 5G services.”
Virgin Media O2 said the roll-out forms part of its £700 million Mobile Transformation Plan for 2025, which includes expanding 4G and 5G coverage, deploying small cells in urban areas, and tackling coverage gaps on transport routes and in large venues.
