VMO2 brags about the results of its 5G, 4G and fibre expansion in Scotland

Telco group VMO2 has given a snapshot of its recent connectivity upgrades in Scotland, which shows 5G is now in 58 towns and cities, and 4G has been boosted in 33,000 postcodes.

Virgin Media O2 has detailed some results of ongoing upgrades and rollouts for its 4G, 5G and fibre networks in Scotland, and even managed to get a Scottish MP to hike down and have a butchers at some cables in coordination with the announcement.

The telco’s 5G coverage in Scotland now covers 58 towns and cities including Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee, Inverness and Perth, each with over 50% population coverage. This equates to 5G coverage across 37,000 postcodes apparently, and we’re told the network has expanded by around a third in the last year.

It’s 4G network has also had a shot in the arm across Scotland, with capacity boosted in over 33,000 postcodes, including in Glasgow, Kirkcaldy, Stirling, Perth, Inverness and Edinburgh. There’s also been some work hooking up more remote areas of Scotland, such as the Isle of Gigha, Pipers Scar, Tarbert, Braemar West, Loch Seaforth, Portachoillan, Kennacraig, Aline Lodge, Adrdovourlie and Benbecula, and Market Stance.

VMO2 will have you know that since 2015 it has invested around £180m to extend its ‘ultrafast’ broadband to 330,000 Scottish homes and businesses, and following upgrade works completed last year, all 1.2 million premises on its network are now able to access gigabit broadband delivering speeds of 1.1Gbps apparently.

“Virgin Media O2 is driving forward the Scottish Government’s aspiration to make the country a world-class digital nation, turning ambition into action through continued investment to expand our gigabit network, 4G upgrades and 5G rollout,” said Colin Rae, Head of Build for Scotland at Virgin Media O2. “We’re dedicated to bringing the best experience and seamless connectivity to all our customers across Scotland, from the remote Isle of Gigha and Scottish Highlands, to the major cities, as we continue to upgrade the UK.”

To celebrate, Ivan McKee, the Scottish Minister for Business, Trade, Tourism and Enterprise, visited a fibre dig site in Glasgow to follow the process of laying cables. So now he knows how that’s done.

It was announced last month that VMO2 will be the anchor wholesale client for a new UK fibre joint venture between Liberty Global, Telefónica and InfraVia who are ploughing £4.5 billion into it. The new as yet unnamed entity will roll out fibre-to-the-home to greenfield premises across the UK, with an initial target of 5 million homes not currently served by VMO2’s network by 2026, and an opportunity to expand to an additional 2 million premises.

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