Virgin Media O2 expands 5G Standalone footprint to West Midlands. Claims to now cover 85 percent of the UK population with 5G SA April 09, 2026 Virgin Media O2 has extended its 5G Standalone (5G SA) network to the West Midlands, UK. The carrier has upgraded its existing 5G network across the West Midlands, including in Birmingham, the country's traditional 'second city.' O2's 5G SA network has been rolled out to other towns and cities in the region, including Coventry, Cannock, Dudley, Stoke-on-Trent, Solihull, Stratford-upon-Avon, Royal Leamington Spa, Rugby, Warwick, Wolverhampton, and West Bromwich. Virgin Media O2 notes that the upgrades take its 5G SA rollout across the UK to 47 large towns and cities, 79 smaller towns, and 597 rural villages. The 5G SA network is not reliant on older mobile generations - it solely uses a 5G core network - and is based on the cloud. The service increases network capacity, cuts latency, and can connect to an increased number of connected devices. 5G SA enables network slicing, which allows telcos to offer dedicated services for a host of business use cases. The telco launched its 5G SA network in February 2024. The carrier said this network is now available for 85 percent of the UK's population. Unlike EE, Virgin Media O2 doesn't charge a premium for customers to use its 5G SA service. Further network upgrades are expected as part of the telco's pledge to invest £700 million ($939m) on its network this year. More in carrier networks.

Nexfibre connects youth hub in Haywards Heath. Partnership with UK Youth and Virgin Media will help young people build their digital skills. Nexfibre has connected Bentswood Hub in Haywards Heath to full fibre broadband free of charge to help young people build their digital skills through a partnership with national youth charity, UK Youth and Virgin Media O2. The centre will receive up to 2Gbps broadband services from Virgin Media O2 for the next two years. The wider initiative was set to offer as many as 1,000 youth centres across the UK access to Nexfibre's fast network. Now, following the announcement of Nexfibre's acquisition of Netomnia, the proposed network expansion means an additional 456 youth centres across the country will become eligible for the offer. With the fast connection, Bentswood Hub youth centre can support its young people to connect with friends, engage with their education and prepare for employment. To enable this, the centre has partnered with Hype VR to host a virtual reality evening in Haywards Heath, giving young people the opportunity to experience the benefits of full fibre broadband firsthand. The centre has also received advice and resources from online safety experts, Internet Matters, and information about the tools and controls available to help keep young people safe online when accessing the Internet. Anna Sharkey, chief executive officer of Bentswood Hub said, "We are excited to benefit from Nexfibre and Virgin Media O2's services here at Bentswood Hub so we can better support our young people." The partnership with UK Youth will result in Nexfibre offering youth centres across the UK access to its fast network, providing young people with the connectivity they need in an increasingly digital world. Research from UK Youth shows digital infrastructure ranks among the top three most urgent financial support needs for the youth sector. Youth organisations are struggling with inadequate digital infrastructure and training, while young people lack IT proficiency and environments conducive to skill-building. That's why Nexfibre, UK Youth and Virgin Media O2 are working together to provide access to fast Internet at youth centres such as Bentswood Hub, enabling them to create environments where young people can develop digital skills, form meaningful relationships and thrive in their communities. Rajiv Datta, chief executive Officer of Nexfibre, said, "Digital poverty is a serious issue in the UK, and at Nexfibre, we are committed to playing our part in tackling it. Full fibre broadband is critical to broader economic growth by providing better access to education, employment and life-changing opportunities. "Through our partnership with UK Youth, I'm delighted to see Bentswood Hub benefitting from our full fibre network, bringing essential digital infrastructure to the local community. By investing in the next generation, we're providing them the tools they need to thrive in a modern economy." Rosie Ferguson OBE, chief executive officer of UK Youth, said, "We are really pleased that Nexfibre is bringing enhanced connectivity and digital access to Bentswood Hub as part of our partnership. Digital poverty remains a significant problem across the UK and prevents youth organisations such as Bentswood Hub from fully addressing the needs of the young people they serve. We look forward to seeing this partnership empower the next generation of Bentswood, Haywards Heath, ensuring they can thrive in an increasingly digital world." Nicola Green, chief communications and corporate affairs officer at Virgin Media O2, said, "We know how important is to be connected, and that's why we're proudly providing Virgin Media O2's gigabit broadband to Bentswood Hub for free. "This lightning-fast connection will help young people in Bentswood, Haywards Heath to get online, get help with their homework and build digital skills - helping them to thrive now and in the future."

Virgin Media O2 UK trial more cost effective rural 4G Small Cells in Scotland. Wednesday, Mar 25th, 2026 (11:15 am) - Score 160 Broadband and mobile giant VMO2 (Virgin Media and O2) have teamed-up with the Scottish Futures Trust (SFT), University of Glasgow, VoltServer, ATS and KTL to demonstrate how mobile connectivity, power delivery, fibre backhaul and IoT services can be combined into a single unified infrastructure at a "fraction of the cost of traditional approaches". The demonstration, which has been part-funded by the Scottish Government, essentially involved deploying a more cost-effective 4G Small Cell at Cochno Farm, the University of Glasgow's teaching and research farm. Using VoltServer's Digital Electricity technology, the solution also safely delivered power and fibre over a single small-diameter cable across distances of up to 2km, "removing one of the most significant barriers to rural small cell deployment". NOTE: Small Cells are typically mini shoebox sized mobile (radio) base stations, which are designed to deliver limited coverage (usually up to around 100 metres) and thus tend to be more focused on busy urban areas and specific sites - it's not uncommon to find these sitting on top of lampposts, CCTV poles or even inside buildings to boost mobile coverage. The 4G base station being used, developed by the University of Glasgow and built to the Joint Operators Technical Specification (JOTS), also operates as a multi-operator neutral host, meaning it can serve customers across multiple mobile networks from a single piece of shared infrastructure. As another bonus, the same power backbone also supports an on-site EV charger. David Owens, Head of Technical Trials at VMO2, said: "Following our successful 5G Drive Project, this initiative was driven by our ambition to find practical, scalable ways to reach customers wherever they are. Working with the Scottish Futures Trust, VoltServer and the University of Glasgow, we've shown how mobile infrastructure, power, fibre and IoT can be deployed as a single, cost-effective solution." Business Minister, Richard Lochhead, said: "This innovative pilot at Cochno Farm shows how collaboration between industry, academia and government has the potential to deliver practical and affordable advanced wireless connectivity solutions for its rural communities. "I'm pleased that Scottish Government funding has supported the University of Glasgow, Virgin Media O2 and partners in making it possible. Initiatives like this represent an important step towards a more connected, resilient, and energy-efficient Scotland, giving businesses and communities greater opportunities to benefit from the digital economy." The new connectivity at the trial site underpins a broader programme of agricultural research, linking livestock monitors, environmental sensors and farm management systems into a single connected network. But it's clear that this approach could be expanded to make certain rural deployments of 4G and 5G Small Cells more viable in the future. Top News of the Week: March 24, 2026 March 20, 2026 March 23, 2026 March 19, 2026 March 20, 2026 Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked * NOTE: Your comment may not appear instantly (it may take several hours) due to static caching and moderation checks by the anti-spam system. Please be patient. Ispreview will reject comments that spam, troll, post via known fake IP/proxy servers or fall foul of its Online Safety and Content Policy. Privacy Notice: Please note that news comments are anonymous, which means that Ispreview do NOT require you to enter any real personal details to post a message and display names can be almost anything you like (provided they do not contain offensive language or impersonate a real person's legal name). By clicking to submit a post you agree to storing your entries for comment content, display name, IP and email in its database, for as long as the post remains live. Only the submitted name and comment will be displayed in public, while the rest will be kept private (Ispreview will never share this outside of ISPreview, regardless of whether the data is real or fake). This comment system uses submitted IP, email and website address data to spot abuse and spammers. All data is transferred via an encrypted (https secure) session.