During the trials, the two companies have said they will set out to demonstrate the capability and performance of 4G and 5G and assess the interoperability between Samsung’s latest systems and VMO2’s 2G and 3G legacy networks.
For the trial, the Korean electronics giant will provide VM02 with its Open RAN-compliant telecoms equipment including a baseband unit, 5G Massive MIMO radios and 4G radios on both low-band and mid-band spectrums.
VM02, which became the UK’s largest telecoms provider following a £31 billion merger in June, said the trials will allow it to deliver “increased coverage and data speeds for driving enhanced 5G end-user experiences”. Earlier this year, VM02 announced plans to upgrade its entire network to full fibre by 2028.
Chief technology officer of VM02 Jeanie York said: “Vendor diversity is crucial to developing safe, secure and more efficient networks. We look forward to undertaking these initial trials with Samsung, which is another milestone in our continued journey to provide the best possible 5G experience for our customers, as well as boosting our 4G network, as we look to upgrade the UK.”
Woojune Kim, executive vice president at Samsung’s network business, added: ““With this trial, we are excited to join hands with Virgin Media O2 to demonstrate the readiness of our 5G network solutions for deployment in the UK and our capabilities in bringing immersive and reliable 4G and 5G mobile experiences to users.”
