Three’s network goes from strength to strength and there’s no sign of that changing, as the company has just announced that it is committed to investing over £2 billion in preparing its network for 5G. Of course, many of the improvements that come of this will also benefit customers ahead of 5G’s launch.
Not all of this money is newly being spent, as the network counts some previous investments and upgrades in that £2 billion+ figure.
These include the haul of spectrum the network has acquired recently, the network’s new 4G+ service, the construction of a super high-capacity dark fibre network, the deployment of a 5G-ready, fully integrated cloud native core network in new data centres, and an agreement to roll out new cell site technology that will help prepare urban areas for 5G, as well as enhancing the experience on 4G.
4G+ is perhaps the most tangible of these benefits so far, but you can be sure that most of this will be helping behind the scenes – now or in the future. And by the sounds of things this investment is ongoing, so expect Three’s network to get better still even before the launch of 5G, which the company is now saying will happen in 2019, so there’s not long to wait.
Three claims that these upgrades will help make its network faster and more reliable, with Dave Dyson (above), Chief executive officer at Three, adding that:
“We have been planning our approach to 5G for many years and we are well positioned to lead on this next generation of technology. These investments are the latest in a series of important building blocks to deliver the best end to end data experience for our customers.”
This is an investment that could prove essential, since Three’s network currently carries 3.5 times more data per customer on average than the other major UK networks and data use is continuing to grow. As such, a fast, stable network with plenty of capacity will be needed to support future demand.
