Mobile operator O2 UK has signed a major three-year coverage, performance and capacity upgrade deal with Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN). Under the agreement NSN will install a range of base stations that, aside from improving the operators existing 3G network, will also support the next generation of superfast Long Term Evolution ( LTE ) Mobile Broadband technologies.

It's understood that NSN will provide approximately two-thirds of O2's 3G access network in the UK, covering the South of England. The firm will also deploy its newest energy-efficient and LTE-ready solutions, including Flexi Multiradio Base Stations, the latest Radio Network Controller and its network management system NetAct.


It's further understood that NSN will provide O2 with the tools (Serve atOnce Traffica) to continuously monitor their network performance and service quality in real-time. Once all is said and done then O2 should have the ability, by 2014 (just as Ofcom's related spectrum auctions complete), to easily switch on a vast swathe of LTE coverage.

O2 revealed last week that it had increased the investment in its network by 25% for 2011. This move is not isolated to a single operator, with many of O2's rivals (e.g. Three (3) UK) also following a similar path.