O2 UK Expand 5G Standalone Mobile Broadband Network to Gloucester
Mobile operator O2 (Virgin Media) has this morning announced that they’ve switched-on their next-generation 5G Standalone (5GSA) mobile broadband network for the city of Gloucester in Gloucestershire (England). The operator’s 5GSA network is now live across a total of more than 500 locations (70% of the UK’s population, or c.49 million people).
Just to recap. 5GSA networks are pure end-to-end 5G that can deliver ultra-low latency times, greater energy efficiency, better speeds (particularly uploads), network slicing, improved support for IoT devices, increased reliability and security etc. Existing 5G networks often use a Non-Standalone (NSA) approach, which is hobbled by being partly reliant upon older and slower 4G infrastructure.
O2’s 5GSA rollout first began in February 2024 (here) and usually aims to reach “at least 90% outdoor coverage” in every location they reach. The same should hold true for Gloucester, where roughly 138,000 residents across the city will be able to benefit from the 5GSA network.
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Dr Robert Joyce, Director of Mobile Access Engineering at O2, said: “Our new 5G Standalone network is now live in Gloucester, providing an impressive upgrade for local people and businesses and creating new opportunities in and around the city. We are investing every single day to improve our mobile network and provide a more reliable experience for our customers, futureproofing our connectivity and paving the way for exciting innovations that lie ahead.”
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads.net and Linkedin.
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Is anyone living in one of those upgraded to SA areas can confirm it improved?
Hi, used to be on O2 in the area before I left and O2 did add a lot of n28 and I did see a bit of n78 648768 added too before leaving. I would expect mostly n28 though since Telephone Exchange, Gloucestershire Royal Hospital and Eastgate House are on n78 635424 (20MHz) these days from 633696.
Realistically 4G has been upgraded pretty well too, O2 now does 2 carriers of 4G 2600 TDD here on two sites and they’ve done 4G 1800 in places too.
Guys, I am not asking for what OpenSignal or any other map or app show you. I am asking if you can confirm that for example down/up speed increased, coverage is better…
I don’t know what else you want me to say? I couldn’t test SA myself but 5G coverage has largely improved since last year since they’ve added it to a lot more sites (and it’s often low band 5G). This information is not from a map anyways, it’s literally information that I’ve gathered myself in the area.
Upload speeds generally are a lot better on 5G from what I’ve seen, highest I’ve seen is around 55 up on 5G. Download speeds have also seen improvements too, but not quite as drastic (some sites in the city are still awful for congestion on both Vodafone and O2 and they don’t seem to be doing anything to change it).
Now we just need ThroDaFone (Vodafone + Three) to follow suit. Coverage still seems patchy around here, with EE consistently showing up as the best network (but also the priciest). O2 might finally leap ahead, but I’m going to have to wait for my network to catch up.