VodafoneThree and Nokia have activated the first 100 advanced 5G radio sites across the UK, marking an early milestone in the merged operator's ambitious network upgrade programme. The sites use Nokia's AirScale Radio Access Network (RAN) technology and form part of VodafoneThree's broader rollout of 5G Standalone, which should eventually extend faster and more reliable 5G to far more of the country.

According to reporting from September 2026, the 100 sites are now live across the UK and form part of an eight-year partnership between VodafoneThree and Nokia. However, this represents just the opening phase of a far larger infrastructure programme.

What 5G Standalone Means for UK Users

Most 5G currently in use across the UK is 5G Non-Standalone (5G NSA), which relies partly on older 4G network infrastructure alongside the 5G radio equipment. 5G Standalone is fundamentally different because the core network is built specifically for 5G from the ground up.

For consumers, the benefits should be noticeable through:

• Faster mobile speeds
• Better coverage
• More network capacity
• Improved reliability
• Lower latency

Users will not need to change their behavior or device settings. Phones will work exactly as before with apps, streaming, video calls, and VPNs continuing to function normally — the upgrade affects the underlying mobile network infrastructure rather than the user experience.

Nokia AirScale Technology and the 100-Site Rollout

Nokia is supplying its AirScale RAN technology to support the 5G Standalone network. This includes Massive MIMO radios and baseband equipment deployed across the activated sites.

The 100 Nokia sites are part of VodafoneThree's broader £11 billion network investment. VodafoneThree has partnered with both Nokia and Ericsson to expand coverage and capacity across the UK. Nokia is expected to supply equipment to around 7,000 sites, while Ericsson technology will be deployed across more than 10,000 sites. Both companies were awarded contracts worth more than £2 billion as part of this wider network build programme.

In context, the first 100 activated sites represent a relatively small milestone within the much larger infrastructure rollout still underway.

VodafoneThree's Wider Rollout Ambitions

VodafoneThree aims for 5G Standalone to reach 99% of the UK population by 2030 and 99.96% by 2034. The company's network investment programme is also expected to support economic growth across the country. VodafoneThree projects that the construction and deployment effort could create as many as 13,000 jobs during the busiest years of the build and contribute more than £100 billion to the UK economy between 2025 and 2035.

The merged operator, formed when Vodafone and Three completed their UK merger in May 2025, committed billions toward building and upgrading mobile infrastructure as a key part of the combined entity's strategy.

Understanding the Terminology

There is some potential confusion around terminology. While Nokia describes these 100 locations as advanced 5G radio sites, this does not necessarily mean they all use 5G-Advanced, which is the formal name for the next stage of the 5G standard beginning with 3GPP Release 18. 5G-Advanced would bring further improvements to performance, coverage, energy efficiency, and AI-supported network management.

The current VodafoneThree project is primarily focused on building a much larger 5G Standalone network. With only the first 100 Nokia-supported sites now activated, there remains significant additional network infrastructure to deploy as part of the wider rollout.