O2 hits Giga Site mobile network milestone

O2 has switched on its 500th Giga Site in North Elgin, Scotland.

The roll-out comes as O2 says demand for mobile connectivity continues to rise, driven by growing demand for streaming, social media, gaming, remote working and artificial intelligence (AI)-powered applications.

It also forms part of the operator’s £700m Mobile Transformation Plan, which is upgrading mobile coverage, reliability and performance across the UK and will see investment in 2026 to expand mobile network coverage, improve reliability and boost mobile speeds through new sites, small cells, 4G and 5G upgrades, automation, and additional spectrum deployment.

It is designed to focus investment in areas of the network that experience the highest levels of demand and where connectivity is most critical. Priority areas where the operator is looking to deliver significant improvements include railways, roads, dense urban areas, hard-to-reach remote locations, stadiums and venues. As part of the move, O2 parent Virgin Media O2 (VMO2) has signed multi-year agreements worth hundreds of millions of pounds with Ericsson and Nokia to upgrade its UK mobile network.

Giga Sites are O2’s most advanced mobile sites, combining low, mid and high-band spectrum with Massive MIMO technology, and designed to boost network performance by giving customers faster speeds, better coverage and greater capacity, helping meet rapidly growing demand for mobile data.

The roll-out is part of O2’s plan to increase network capacity where it is needed most, with each Giga Site delivering 10 times more capacity than previous infrastructure. This enables more customers to stay connected, stream content, make video calls and access online services, even in some of the busiest locations across the country.

With North Elgin, 500 Giga Sites have now been switched on in towns and cities across the UK. This marks the halfway point in O2’s ambition to deploy 1,000 Giga Sites nationwide in 2026.

The milestone comes as demand for mobile connectivity continues to rise, driven by growing demand for streaming, social media, gaming, remote working and AI-powered applications.

“Reaching 500 Giga Sites is a major milestone in the transformation of our mobile network,” said Jeanie York, chief technology officer at Virgin Media O2.

“As customers use more data than ever before, these cutting-edge sites are helping us add capacity where it’s needed most and deliver a faster, more reliable experience across the UK. We’re not slowing down, with more towns and cities set to benefit throughout the year as we continue investing around £2m per day in our mobile network.”