Arqiva and O2 Boost London Mobile Coverage via 300 Small Cells

Mobile operator O2 UK and wireless infrastructure developer Arqiva have teamed up to improve 4G and future 5G mobile coverage and network capacity across London by installing up to 300 new small cells. The first sites will go live this summer 2018, with deployment continuing up to 2020.

The new agreement will harness some of Arqiva’s existing concession contracts with 14 of the London Boroughs, including the Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, Richmond upon Thames, Wandsworth, Camden and Lambeth, to name a few. Related contracts enable the firm to install WiFi and Mobile boosting small cell kit onto street furniture and the sides or insides of buildings.

In the future such equipment could also be upgraded to help support new capacity and ultrafast multi-Gigabit capable mobile broadband speeds via the next generation of 5G technology.

Brendan O’Reilly, O2’s CTO, said:

“National 5G infrastructure – when it arrives in a few years’ time – will not only have a crucial impact on our economy, it will change the way we live our lives. Our partnership with Arqiva reflects this belief and demonstrates our commitment to exploring opportunities to provide the increased capacity and denser coverage our customers deserve in the areas they need it most. Only by working together, with industry partners, regulators, and government policy makers, will we be able to continue delivering the best for our customers and to help the UK maintain the digital leadership we have all worked so hard to establish”.

David Crawford, Arqiva’s MD of Telecoms & M2M, said:

“New types of mobile infrastructure are now required to meet the needs of the mobile network operators and their customers. As demand for data continues to increase, the requirement for network densification will grow and use of street furniture and small cells will play a critical role in delivering the mobile networks of the future.

The agreement between O2 and Arqiva represents the start of this journey and we look forward to working together to deliver an enhanced experience for O2 customers.”

The first commercial deployments of 5G aren’t expected to begin until 2020.