Virgin Media O2 invests in new 5G high-speed airwaves to boost mobile network for future

• Virgin Media O2 invests £13 million to acquire 800MHz of 26GHz spectrum and 1000MHz of 40GHz spectrum at reserve price following Ofcom’s mmWave auction
• These high frequency airwaves will be used in future to deliver fast, reliable 5G connectivity in the busiest locations such as airports, arenas and stadiums
• A trial of mmWave spectrum in September saw a record speed of 4Gbps reached on the O2 network
• This spectrum acquisition complements Virgin Media O2’s mobile transformation plan which sees the operator investing £700 million in 2025 to improve and future-proof its mobile network

16 October, 2025: Virgin Media O2 has today confirmed the successful acquisition of new high-speed 5G spectrum to boost mobile connectivity with an investment of £13 million following the latest auction held by Ofcom.

When deployed, these new high-capacity millimetre mobile airwaves (mmWave) will give O2 customers an enhanced experience in future by further boosting mobile performance in busy towns and cities, in packed locations such as train stations, airports and stadiums and for businesses using 5G private networks in the likes of factories or ports where reliability, speed and low latency is key.

Building on Virgin Media O2’s existing network leadership, with the UK’s biggest 5G Standalone footprint, this investment also ensures the operator is well positioned to support new data hungry technologies as 5G applications and uses for this spectrum evolve.

Through the auction process, the company has acquired a third of available spectrum across both bands at reserve price, with 800MHz of 26GHz spectrum and 1,000MHz of 40 GHz spectrum – equating to a cost of £0.00014 per MHz/population in the 26GHz band and £0.00007 per MHz/population in the 40GHz band. This mmWave spectrum will be optimal for supporting services that require very high capacity and speeds, with Ofcom awarding these airwaves across 68 “high-density” areas of the country, from London, Cardiff and Bristol to Newcastle, Belfast, Glasgow and Edinburgh, where the regulator has identified significant demand for mobile data.

Lutz Schüler, CEO of Virgin Media O2 said: “This new investment in high speed, high capacity mobile airwaves is a strong result from the auction and pairs perfectly with our strategy to transform our mobile network and give our customers a trustworthy and reliable mobile connectivity experience wherever they are. This is an investment for the future, building on the £2 million we already spend each day on our mobile network, with this high frequency spectrum perfectly suited to delivering incredible connectivity in crowded places like the O2 arena and other stadiums, train stations and airports. We’ve already broken the speed barrier on our network through tests of these airwaves, and we’ll be fired up and ready to deploy our new spectrum at the right moment so our customers can benefit as soon as possible.”

Mobile network speed record broken in trial of new spectrum

Virgin Media O2 has already carried out a successful real-world 5G Standalone test using a trial licence for mmWave spectrum which saw speeds of 4Gbps on a single device – a new speed record for O2.  While there are currently limited mobile handsets live in the UK market, Virgin Media O2 will be ready to utilise this spectrum as soon as these devices become mainstream in the UK. O2 also has the largest deployment of small cells in the UK, reaching more than 2000 sites, which are ideally suited to make use of mmWave spectrum.

This acquisition of new spectrum complements Virgin Media O2’s Mobile Transformation Plan, which sees the operator invest approximately £700m this year to future-proof its mobile network. This plan is focused on expanding wide area 4G and 5G coverage, a further dedicated small cells rollout to boost capacity in dense urban areas, and innovative solutions to address persistent network pain points including along railway lines, at airports, on motorways, and in stadiums and arenas. The company recently announced the launch of a UK first mobile ‘Giga Site’ in Paddington, which combines low, mid and high-band spectrum with new “Massive MIMO” antenna technology to significantly improve 5G network performance delivering over 10Gbps of throughput per site.

ENDS