Samsung and Virgin Media O2 have successfully deployed multiple live 4G and 5G sites across the U.K. The sites, located in Tamworth and the Peak District, England, were used to complete the first 5G data call on Virgin Media O2’s commercial 5G network.
Virgin Media O2 tapped Samsung in October to spearhead field trials for these sites. The trials assessed interoperability between Samsung’s 4G/5G capabilities and Virgin Media O2’s cellular networks.
Samsung provided a variety of network solutions for the tests, including its 4G radios, 4G/5G baseband units and 5G Massive MIMO radios. These solutions accommodate between 800 MHz and 3.5 GHz of Virgin Media O2 spectrum. Samsung delivered its 5G Massive MIMO radios specifically for the operator's 3.5 GHz spectrum band.
“We look forward to playing a major part of the diversification of the network equipment supply chain in the U.K. market,” said Francis BJ Chun, president and CEO of Samsung Electronics U.K., in a statement.
Samsung's radio equipment can be made open RAN compliant, with some modifications. Open RAN technology has gained momentum in the U.K, with Vodafone launching the country’s first live 5G open RAN site in January.
“We are pleased to build on our previous collaboration with Samsung, delivering another 5G milestone in our push to developing open RAN technologies,” said Jeanie York, CTO at Virgin Media O2. “We will continue our collaborative efforts with Samsung to explore the possibilities of 5G and push the technology further to deliver superior end-user experiences for our customers.”
The field trials also showed Samsung’s Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS) capabilities are compatible with Virgin Media O2’s network. DSS allows operators to seamlessly deploy 5G networks within LTE spectrum.
Verizon last year deployed DSS in 2,700 U.S. cities for its 5G Nationwide coverage, according to Global Wireless Solutions. AT&T has also integrated DSS to accelerate its 5G deployments, though at a lower level than that of Verizon. Aside from U.S. carriers, Deutsche Telekom uses DSS to tap into its 2.1 GHz band, dividing available spectrum between 4G LTE and 5G.
Samsung has been making headway in helping operators worldwide roll out 5G services. NTT East selected Samsung last month as a partner for the Japan operator’s private network deployments. Samsung also has CBRS deals in the works with fixed wireless access (FWA) provider Avista Edge and rural broadband provider Mercury Broadband.