Category: Mobile Broadband
Over 100 mobile masts upgraded as part of Shared Rural Network
A big milestone has been reached in the Shared Rural Network upgrade programme with 100 masts upgraded to support 4G service from all the mobile networks. These upgrades mean people will experience dead zones for mobile service less frequently, or experience the common thing of a friends phone on a different network working perfectly well. […]
O2 says farewell to 3G
O2 is the last network that still operates a 3G network, with the other UK mobile operators already having decommissioned their 3G service so they can re-deploy the spectrum to be used for 4G and 5G service. Three most recently announced that they had switched off the final parts of the 3G network for which […]
Virgin Media O2 opens its Manchester HQ and invests £100 million in Greater Manchester
With the lease on its old headquarters building in Wythenshawe set to expire in early 2026 Virgin Media O2 has moved its North West HQ to John Dalton Street just off Deansgate. The building will house some 1,100 staff and highlights the firms commitment to Greater Manchester and the North West region. The new offices […]
O2 announces improved mobile connectivity in Guildford with Freshwave
O2 has announced that they are deploying thirteen new 4G/5G small cells via Freshwave in Guildford city centre to help improve connectivity in the busy public areas. This is under an open access agreement between Surrey County Council and Freshwave who act as a neutral host. Freshwave can then roll out mobile cells, which can […]
Ofcom launches investigation into BT and Three mobile outages
Ofcom has announced that it is launching an investigation into both BT and Three following network outages in the summer that caused widespread disruption to call services, both mobile and landline (in BT’s case) and in particular, access to emergency services. The incidents that occurred were, firstly, on the 25th June 2025, an outage at […]
Virgin Media O2 brings standalone 5G to Essex
O2 has now switched on its 5GSA (standalone) network in Essex and is available in around 500 locations serving the county which has a population of around 1.5 million people. For a few years people will have been seeing the 5G symbol on their mobile, but often this was reliant on the underlying 4G network […]
Ofcom green lights use of direct to phone satellite services
Firms like O2 have previously announced satellite services and now the full launch of these services is possible. Networks simply have to request a chance to their licence and in a sensible move smartphone users will not need a licence. O2 is not alone, Vodafone announced a partnership with AST way back in January 2025. […]
Three has turned off its 3G service
Mobile network operator Three (now part of VodafoneThree) has turned off the 3G network service that it is named after, following 23 years and 6 months of service. The shutdown was completed on the 27th November 2025 and will enable the company to reuse the mobile frequencies that were used for the 3G service on […]
Jet Infrastructure seeks Code Powers to support mobile networks
Another telecoms firm is seeking Code Powers to make constructing network infrastructure easier, the latest is Jet Infrastructure who appear to be a new firm created in July 2025. Ofcom is running its standard consultation prior to granting code powers. The application gives some idea of what Jet Infrastructure are looking to do, and this […]
EE enables 5GSA for more than half a million customers
EE has announced that they have enabled 5G Standalone (5GSA), or what they are confusingly calling 5G+ (to buck the industry trend), for more than half a million EE customers. 5GSA is enabled by default on all new and upgrading EE monthly handset plans, and is included for customers who bought the EE ‘All Rounder’ […]