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Customers of virtual mobile operator Sky Mobile, which is estimated to be home to around 4-5 million customers in the UK, have just become the first O2 (Virgin Media) powered Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) to introduce 5G Standalone (5G+) technology for better mobile broadband performance and more.
Early 5G deployments were Non-Standalone (NSA), which meant they were partly reliant upon some older and slower 4G infrastructure. But 5G+ networks are pure end-to-end 5G connectivity that can deliver ultra-low latency times, greater energy efficiency, better mobile data speeds (particularly uploads), network slicing, improved support for Internet of Things (IoT) devices, increased reliability and security etc.
However, while O2 has been selling 5G+ services since early 2024 and it’s now live across around 86% of the UK’s population, the story for their virtual mobile operator partners is rather different. Support for the latest features on MVNOs tends to depend upon the agreements that such operators, like Sky Mobile, have with their parent networks. But suffice to say, it usually takes a little while before new network features trickle down.