Virgin Media O2 has completed the deployment of Samsung gear at multiple live 4G and 5G sites in the U.K. The companies also completed the first 5G data call on Virgin Media O2’s commercial 5G network, using the sites.
Field trials were jointly carried out on the sites—located in Tamworth and the Peak District, England since the start of this year. They followed successful lab tests conducted in October 2021, validating the capability and performance of Samsung’s 4G and 5G solutions on Virgin Media O2’s commercial network.
Virgin Media O2 also validated use of Samsung’s Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS) capabilities, should they be required.
Samsung provided its latest network solutions for trials—including 4G radios, 5G Massive MIMO radios and baseband units. The solutions cover a wide range of Virgin Media O2’s spectrum holdings, from low- to mid-band (800MHz, 2.1GHz and 3.5GHz). Specifically, Samsung delivered its 5G 64T64R Massive MIMO radios for the 3.5GHz spectrum, a major 5G spectrum band for the operator’s network.
“Samsung is excited to extend our network collaboration with Virgin Media O2 in the U.K., advancing from lab trials to now delivering 4G and 5G in commercial networks out in the field,” said Francis BJ Chun, President and CEO, Samsung Electronics U.K. “We look forward to playing a major part of the diversification of the network equipment supply chain in the U.K. market.”
