O2 Telefónica UK Limited, home to popular music, sport, comedy and entertainment, announced their October plans to deploy 5G in 20 cities, with another 50 by the middle of next year. The order of importance will be placed on transport hubs, businesses, sports, entertainment hubs, and other locations where capacity is stretched. They have put Edinburgh on the top of list to be the first location where customers will be able to get faster download speeds and increased reliability with compatible handsets. As they implement 5G they will continue to upgrade their 4G networks in their already provided 19,000 areas across the UK.
Before the roll out of 5G in October, O2 stated that August will bring availability of the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G and the Xiaomi Mix 3 5G. Customers will be able to select plans for 5G after the roll out.
O2 fast and flexibility
Coinciding with O2's announcement, the UK was reported to have postponed any decision concerning the use of Huawei within UK's 5G networks. Fortunately, O2 made a deal with Vodafone on July 23, 2019 to share 5G active equipment to provide a faster deployment at lower cost. The partnership deal also will make roughly 2,700 5G network sites in 23 of the UK’s larger cities self-sufficiency. Giving both telco companies more flexibility to meet customers needs and launch future network technologies.
It also brings the total number of self-sufficiency sites to 25%. O2, for years, has had partnership agreements with Finnish company Nokia and Sweden company Ericsson to use equipment and infrastructure.
Mobile networks
Although O2 will be the last of the UK's big four telecommunications providers to switch on its 5G network, it is said that it will not be hurt as 5G connectivity is eagerly anticipated by UK consumers.
5G is not merely an upgrade but will totally redefine the impact of mobile networks on the world. O2 intends to also upgrade their transmission networks with higher capacity optical fiber cables.
This would enable customers to benefit from 5G’s new features, from downloading movies in seconds to autonomous vehicles, smart homes, smart businesses and smart cities.
Cornerstone, formed in 2012, is a joint venture company that owns and manages Vodafone and O2 phone transmitting. It will take on an additional job of deploying both Vodafone and O2 networks and keep track of their productivity. This will allow examining monetisation opportunities for their joint mobile infrastructure services company.
The top networks governing the 5G equipment market at present are Huawei Investment & Holding Co. Ltd., Ericsson, ZTE Corporation and Nokia Corporation.
