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Mobile operator O2 (Virgin Media) has today confirmed that they’ve switched-on their next-generation 5G+ (5G Standalone) mobile broadband network across more of Kent in England, which is said to reach “up to” 1.6 million residents across 125 towns, 303 villages and 246 hamlets – 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 across Kent includes locations such as Canterbury, Dover, Tonbridge, Faversham, Folkestone, Maidstone and Sevenoaks.
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.