Thanks to the new partnership, commuters, businesses, visitors and residents of some of the UK’s biggest cities, including London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Bradford and Southampton, will soon be able to reap the benefits of improved 4G access.
Internet access whilst out and about is more important to people’s day-to-day lives than ever before. With their joint expertise, the telecoms businesses will make it simpler and faster to deploy small cells that will improve connectivity for people on the go; whether it’s from a smartphone, tablet or laptop.
Virgin Media Business and Arqiva can provide Mobile Network Operators with access to over 400,000 street assets, including lampposts and CCTV cameras. Combined with Virgin Media Business’s high capacity fibre network and Arqiva’s expertise in wireless transmission, this will provide an end-to-end solution for small cell deployment; from design, through installation and into in-life operation.
As a result Mobile Network Operators will be able to use this service to extend the reach and depth of their networks, ensuring more people benefit from a high speed 4G experience.
Duncan Higgins, Marketing Director at Virgin Media Business, said: “Small cell technology is a key way of tackling network capacity in built-up areas for mobile operators”.
“Increasingly people are using their mobile devices to download and stream videos; that’s why services like this are so important. By providing more capacity in city centres where we already have a large-scale fibre presence, we are able to provide a great service.”
Nicolas Ott, Managing Director of Telecoms, Arqiva said: “Regardless of network or consumer device, seamless and hassle-free connectivity is an absolute must. The challenge in dense urban areas is that buildings can block the signal and the higher volume of users can result in network congestion. Small cell technology is key to addressing these challenges, as already demonstrated in the USA and Asia.”
“Thanks to our partnership with Virgin Media Business, we are capable of providing Mobile Network Operators a one-stop-shop and end-to-end connectivity service across the largest possible geographic area. We are excited by the strong leading position we are creating that enables a rapid deployment of this technology in the UK market.”