O2 UK trial Nokia’s AI-powered radio access network to boost 5G mobile network UPDATE
Mobile operator O2 (Virgin Media) has today revealed that they’ve just completed the UK’s “first live deployment” of Nokia’s AI-powered Radio Access Network (RAN) tech at their Giga Site in London Paddington. The trial is said to have improved the network’s spectral efficiency by 20% and allowed their 5G+ (Standalone) site to carry more mobile data (mobile broadband) traffic.
The announcement follows only days after rival EE (BT) announced that they were also working with NVIDIA and Nokia to bring their first AI-RAN (Radio Access Network) sites online in Birmingham during 2027 (here). The technology itself uses predictive Artificial Intelligence (AI) to automatically optimise 5G radio resources based on changing network demand and conditions (i.e. making more efficient use of the radio spectrum).
O2’s deployment took place at their Giga Site in London Paddington, one of the UK’s busiest transport hubs, where the technology operated on O2’s live network and served customers throughout the trial. Giga Sites are cell sites that adopt the operator’s most advanced 5G technologies (5G+, dual-band Massive MIMO etc.) to improve network coverage, mobile broadband speeds and capacity for customers.
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During the live trial, O2 said the technology improved spectral efficiency by approximately 20%. “In practical terms, this allowed the site to carry more data using the same spectrum and existing network capacity. The feature also delivered significant throughput gains during periods of high demand while maintaining stable network accessibility and reliability,” explained the announcement.
Jeanie York, Chief Technology Officer at O2, said:
“Mobile data demand continues to grow, so we need smarter ways to make the most of the spectrum and infrastructure we already have. This live trial with Nokia showed how AI can improve network efficiency and help us respond more effectively to changing customer demand. By making better use of existing network resources, we can deliver a better experience for customers while supporting future traffic growth.”
At present it’s unclear whether O2 already has a wider roll-out plan ready for this technology, but we wouldn’t be surprised if they did (we’ve asked and will report back). As of July 2026, the operator had already deployed over 500 Giga Sites across the UK, so there’s plenty of scope for future upgrades.
UPDATE 11:52am
O2 has confirmed that they do intend to deploy the technology more broadly, but no further details were provided.
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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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I’ve got o2 5g sa where I live and it doesn’t exceed 300mbps down even off peak. maybe the telecoms companies especially o2 need to focus on getting the basics right first.
“focus on getting the basics right first” Why do you need more than 300mb to your phone?
Ensuring everyone connected to the mast gets a reliable service that doesn’t become clogged up is exactly what this is intended to do.
o2 is promising fastest speeds, but trying ensure a reliable useable service wherever possible.
Having a minimum 30mbps everywhere over looking at 900mbps speeds tests in some places is far more useful to everyday life. Be amazed to see what people do on their phone that needs over 50mbps.
*o2 isn’t promising fastest speeds
Ash, for a network to be reliable, it needs enough capacity today and until the next upgrade cycle in 5-7 years.
The reason why O2’s network often struggles with data – a chronic problem since the first iPhone was released – is a lack of deployed capacity. A site with 300Mbps overnight will be 100Mbps during peak hours. How fast will it be in 3 years? Or 6?
I live in a city. EE has a site near where I live, you’ll get 800-900Mbps between 2 and 4am. Do you think it’s a waste of resources? By 7pm, it’s around 150-250Mbps. The site was upgraded a few months ago, so they won’t touch it for the next 5 years… this is how you make sure your network doesn’t fail after a while during peak hours or when people are out to pick their kids from school.
I don’t know if O2’s doing a good job in their area or not, but we need to stop looking at fast sites as a bad thing. They’re a “must” in a data heavy world. A network that doesn’t deploy adequate capacity won’t be able to provide that “reliable useable service” you talk off.
There are areas where O2 is now reaching gigabit speeds. They’re not doing it because they love burning money… It’s a data world now and we should update our outdated views.
*o2 isn’t promising fastest speeds