O2 uses AI to improve 5G at one of London’s busiest stations
Key Points
- O2 and Nokia completed the UK’s first live AI-powered RAN deployment.
- The trial ran at O2’s Giga Site in London Paddington.
- Spectral efficiency improved by around 20% on existing spectrum.
- Customers get faster downloads and less buffering at busy times.
- The project forms part of O2’s £700 million Mobile Transformation Plan.
O2 and Nokia have completed the UK’s first live deployment of AI-powered 5G radio technology, boosting spectral efficiency by around 20%.
The two companies said the technology ran on O2’s live network at its Giga Site in London Paddington, serving customers throughout the trial.
The deployment forms part of O2’s £700 million Mobile Transformation Plan, which combines targeted investment with smarter technology to improve network reliability, capacity and performance.
Mobile sites have traditionally relied on largely static algorithms to divide radio resources between users.
Nokia’s system sits within the radio access network (RAN), the part of the mobile network that connects phones to masts, and uses predictive AI to learn from changing network conditions.
It anticipates shifts in demand and automatically adjusts how the site allocates spectrum and capacity, without any manual intervention from engineers.
The 20% efficiency gain allowed the Paddington site to carry more data using the same spectrum and existing network equipment.
O2 said the feature also delivered significant throughput gains during periods of high demand while keeping network accessibility and reliability stable.
The operator said this supports faster downloads, higher-quality video streaming and less buffering for customers in busy locations where demand fluctuates throughout the day.
“Mobile data demand continues to grow, so we need smarter ways to make the most of the spectrum and infrastructure we already have,” said Jeanie York, Chief Technology Officer at O2.
“This live trial with Nokia showed how AI can improve network efficiency and help us respond more effectively to changing customer demand,” York added.
“This milestone demonstrates how AI is moving from experimentation to delivering measurable benefits in live mobile networks,” said Emma Falck, President of Mobile Networks at Nokia.
“By embedding intelligence directly into the RAN, operators can make better use of existing spectrum resources, improve network performance and create a stronger foundation for future AI-driven services,” Falck said.
