Virgin Media O2 Pumps Another £700m into UK Mobile Upgrades for 2026

Mobile operator O2 (Virgin Media) has this morning confirmed that they’ll pump another £700m into their Mobile Transformation Plan for 2026 (the same amount as last year), which much like in 2025 will be focused on “improving reliability, boosting capacity and extending coverage across the country“.

The operator added that the investment will also assist in the deployment of new masts, small cells, 4G and 5G upgrades, automation and new spectrum deployment, providing customers with a “superior mobile network experience“. In particular, O2 also said they would focus on expanding the coverage of their 5G+ (5G Standalone) network, which currently reaches 87% of the UK population and more than 700 towns and cities.

On top of that they’re also still planning to deploy 1,000 “Giga Sites” nationwide, which reflects mobile sites that utilise Nokia’s latest dual-band massive MIMO (Multiple-Input Multiple-Output) tech to boost 5G mobile broadband performance and network capacity (here). Such sites can often deliver more than 10Gbps of throughput.

The operator is also continuing to bring its mobile and fixed networks together and using its own fibre network to connect mobile sites, recently connecting 2,000 mobile sites to its proprietary 10Gbps fibre backhaul network. Not to mention the ongoing expansion of their new O2 Satellite service too, which enables regular Smartphones to be connected via satellite 4G data (here).

Jeanie York, CTO at Virgin Media O2, said:

“Our Mobile Transformation Plan is all about building a network that customers can rely on wherever they are and whenever they need it. This £700m investment means we can keep improving performance in the places that matter most, from busy city centres and stadiums to railways, roads and rural communities.

We have already made significant strides in boosting coverage, capacity and reliability across the country, and our industry-leading 5G+ network now reaches 87% of the UK population. We are also the first UK operator to provide our customers with direct-to-device satellite connectivity, following the switch on of O2 Satellite. Customer satisfaction with our network continues to grow and we’ve recently been crowned the best network for coverage by uSwitch for the second year in a row.

By continuing to invest in new infrastructure, deploying additional spectrum and embracing greater automation, we are creating the stronger, smarter network that our customers need.”

Despite all these improvements, it’s still notable that O2 continues to come bottom in most of the benchmarks of mobile network performance that we see, although they are improving and the above announcement suggests that progress will continue. On the other hand it’s worth noting that EE (BT) and VodafoneThree (Vodafone and Three UK) are making similarly big investments in many of the same areas.