Through the auction, Virgin Media O2 secured 800MHz of 26GHz spectrum and 1,000MHz of 40GHz spectrum at the reserve price, representing around one-third of the total spectrum available.

These high-frequency airwaves will be used in the future to deliver fast, reliable 5G in the UK’s busiest areas, including train stations, airports, arenas and stadiums, as well as for private 5G networks serving industries such as manufacturing, logistics and ports.

The investment underpins Virgin Media O2’s Mobile Transformation Plan, which will see £700 million invested in 2025 to improve and future-proof its mobile network.

The operator, which already boasts the largest 5G Standalone footprint in the UK, continues to enhance capacity and resilience to meet growing data demands and support emerging AI and cloud-driven technologies.

“This new investment in high speed, high-capacity mobile airwaves is a strong result from the auction and pairs perfectly with our strategy to transform our mobile network and give our customers a trustworthy and reliable mobile connectivity experience wherever they are,” said Lutz Schüler, CEO of Virgin Media O2.

“This is an investment for the future, building on the £2 million we already spend each day on our mobile network, with this high frequency spectrum perfectly suited to delivering incredible connectivity in crowded places like the O2 arena and other stadiums, train stations and airports.

“We’ve already broken the speed barrier on our network through tests of these airwaves, and we’ll be fired up and ready to deploy our new spectrum at the right moment so our customers can benefit as soon as possible.”

In a recent trial, Virgin Media O2 achieved record 5G speeds of 4Gbps on a single device using mmWave spectrum, the fastest ever recorded on its network. While compatible handsets are still limited in the UK market, the company said it is ready to deploy the spectrum as soon as the technology becomes widely available.

Virgin Media O2 already operates more than 2,000 small cell sites across the UK, providing ideal infrastructure for future mmWave rollout. The acquisition of these new frequencies will help boost capacity and performance in dense urban environments, supporting demand in locations where connectivity is most needed.

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