Virgin Media O2 is one of the UK’s largest mass media and telecommunications companies. Based in London, the company was formed in June 2021 as a joint venture between Liberty Global and Telefónica through the merger of their respective Virgin Media and O2 UK businesses. Recently, the company sought to virtualize and modernize its network in an effort to cement its position as the leading telecommunications provider across the UK and the European Union.
To this end, Virgin Media O2 UK chose VMware to help modernize its network and enable the continued success of its 5G rollout. The company will leverage VMware Telco Cloud Infrastructure to design, build, test and implement virtualized network functions, boosting innovation across its network and the delivery of new services. The collaboration has underpinned the deployment of Virgin Media O2’s 5G network over the past 16 months.
VMware’s Telco Cloud Infrastructure delivers a single horizontal platform enabling Virgin Media O2 to simplify, scale, and better protect its core cloud networks. Operating a reliable, agile network that can be efficiently upgraded to maintain quality of coverage is fundamental to the success of Virgin Media O2’s 5G network – particularly in highly regulated and competitive markets.
Virgin Media O2 will also leverage VMware Tanzu for Telco's Kubernetes cluster capabilities to build Containers as a Service (CaaS) proficiency. This will support the next generation of containerised network functions and enable Virgin Media O2 to maintain and expand the network’s ability to support multi-vendor solutions. Being able to onboard functions and interoperate between different vendors is essential in rapid deployment. VMware’s common platform enables Virgin Media O2 to add these incrementally.
“As the rollout of 5G networks comes close to completion, service providers need to be able to modernize their network infrastructure quickly, simply, and economically,” said Sanjay Uppal, senior vice president and general manager for Service Provider & Edge at VMware. “The best way to do this is through a single platform that can automate and streamline delivery of multi-vendor network functions.”
For more information about the technologies that will usher in 5G, plan on attending 5G Expo, part of the #TECHSUPERSHOW, a mega event focused on enterprise communications, IoT, mobility and wireless, blockchain, AI, AR and more. The event will take place June 21 - 24, 2022 at the Broward County Convention Center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. For more information or to register, visit the show website.
Edited by
Maurice Nagle
