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Mobile operator O2 (Virgin Media) has today announced that they’ve switched-on their next-generation 5G Standalone (5G+) mobile broadband network across Newcastle, Tyneside and Sunderland, which is said to reach nearly 1.2 million residents – delivering “faster speeds, better coverage and lower latency at no extra cost.”
Just to recap. O2’s rollout of 5G+ / 5GSA first began in February 2024 (here) and aims to reach “at least 90% outdoor coverage” in every location they cover. The operator’s latest rollout in Newcastle, Tyneside and Sunderland includes locations such as Newcastle city centre and the Quayside to Gateshead, as well as running from Sunderland and Washington to towns including Shiney Row, Hetton-le-Hole and Houghton-le-Spring, as well as smaller communities across the wider area (some of this went live a while little ago and is only now being confirmed).
The new 5G+ network is currently live across around 86% of the UK’s population. The technology offers a pure end-to-end 5G network that can deliver ultra-low latency times, greater energy efficiency, better speeds (particularly uploads), network slicing, improved support for IoT devices, increased reliability and security etc. By comparison, early 5G networks used a Non-Standalone (NSA) approach, which was hobbled by being partly reliant upon older and slower 4G infrastructure.