Virgin Media O2 selects Ericsson 5G core to power 5G SA

U.K.- based Virgin Media O2 (VMO2) announced on Monday its collaboration with Swedish Telecom vendor Ericsson to supply cloud native, container-based dual-mode 5G core technology.

This step will pave the way for VMO2 to deliver ultra-fast connectivity to consumers and develop advanced enterprise use cases.

According to the agreement, VMO2 will bring its 4G, 5G non-standalone and 5G standalone services into a single fully integrated Ericsson dual-mode 5G core hosted on Ericsson cloud infrastructure in VMO2’s data centers.

5G standalone will provide VMO2 with gigabit connectivity, ultra-low latency, network slicing and huge data-handling ability. In addition to new services such as virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR).

“The benefits of 5G Standalone are significant as we aim to supercharge the U.K.’s digital economy, and we look forward to rolling it out for our customers in the near future,” Jorge Ribeiro, director of service platform strategy & engineering at VMO2, said in a joint statement.

In parallel, Katherine Ainley, CEO of Ericsson UK & Ireland considered that the “dual-mode 5G core will enable the full power of 5G standalone within Virgin Media O2’s network, unleashing the full potential of 5G for consumers and enabling digital transformation in new industries. 5G standalone takes the U.K.’s mobile infrastructure to the next level and will help to boost long-term investment in the country and drive forward our growing digital economy.”

It’s worth mentioning that VMO2, the British newly merged operator, is a combination of Liberty Global’s Virgin Media, a fixed broadband provider, and Telefonica’s O2, a mobile carrier in the U.K.