VodafoneThree picks Ericsson and Nokia for a £2 Billion UK 5G rollout
Marking one of the largest recent vendor awards in European telecoms, VodafoneThree has signed contracts with Ericsson and Nokia worth a combined 2 billion pounds to supply and modernize 5G infrastructure across the United Kingdom. The agreements cover multi year deployments of radio access and core network equipment as the newly merged operator moves to deliver nationwide 5G Standalone coverage under a long term investment plan.
VodafoneThree said the contracts form part of an 11 billion pound investment pledge made when Vodafone and CK Hutchison completed their UK merger earlier this year. The company told investors and regulators that the funding will support a programme to extend 5G Standalone to a large majority of the population and to upgrade capacity and resilience in major cities and towns.
Ericsson will be the primary vendor under the agreement and confirmed a contract value of 12.5 billion Swedish crowns, roughly 1.3 billion US dollars. Nokia will return as a supplier to VodafoneThree and has been assigned equipment provision for about 7,000 cell sites, while Ericsson will cover a larger share of sites and deliver new radio products, smart antennas and energy optimizations. Both vendors said their hardware and software will be deployed into the next decade.
Max Taylor, chief executive of VodafoneThree, described the vendor selection as central to the operator’s delivery timetable. He said the chosen suppliers “bring the scale and expertise needed to accelerate the delivery of a resilient, secure, world class and future ready network” and that the partners will work with local site build firms to execute the rollout. The operator indicated the contracts span an eight year period and cover modernizing existing 4G and 5G infrastructure alongside new 5G Standalone deployments.
"We said we would deliver at pace and, just a few months in, we are delighted to be working with trusted strategic partners such as Nokia, to deliver our ambition of building the UK’s best network. They bring the scale and expertise needed to accelerate the delivery of a resilient, secure, world-class and future-ready network, and together, we are laying the foundations for the UK’s digital future.” He said, published on Nokia website.
Ericsson and Nokia both framed the award as validation of their product roadmaps. Börje Ekholm, president and chief executive of Ericsson, said the company will power VodafoneThree with programmable network products, software and solutions aimed at supporting compute intensive services such as artificial intelligence and augmented reality.
Justin Hotard, president and chief executive of Nokia, said the partnership will enable a “future proof” 5G Standalone network across the United Kingdom.
The procurement reverses a recent move by Vodafone to explore a broader vendor mix in some tenders and sidelines Samsung in the UK agreement. Samsung responded by stressing its ambitions in Europe and its ability to deliver virtualized Open RAN and automation platforms at scale. Analysts note the outcome underlines an industry dynamic where incumbent Nordic vendors retain significant market share in large national builds, particularly where operators prioritise established supply chain scale and integration.
Industry watchers say the VodafoneThree deal will ripple through the vendor market by reallocating sizable equipment spending for the next decade. The award is a timely commercial boost for Ericsson and Nokia, both of which have been managing slower growth and tariff related pressures in other regions. The contracts also reflect operator preferences for energy efficient radio equipment and AI enabled network automation as traffic demand intensifies and new enterprise use cases emerge.
Beyond vendor economics, the deal has public policy and competition implications. The merger that created VodafoneThree was cleared with conditions that included an explicit commitment to large scale network investment. Regulators flagged concerns about market concentration but accepted behavioural remedies and specified infrastructure commitments as part of their approval. The new contracts will be monitored by regulators and by customers who expect measurable improvements in speeds, reliability and coverage in urban and rural areas.
The immediate task for VodafoneThree and its suppliers will be translating contract language into site level deliveries. The companies said initial deployments will focus on London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast and will involve UK based site build contractors for execution. Observers will watch timelines for activation, the rate at which 5G Standalone services appear to consumers, and how the network performs under real world loads as traffic from cloud services and AI applications grows.
The agreement signals where capital and technical priorities lie for the UK mobile market in the coming years. For Ericsson and Nokia the contracts provide long term revenue visibility and technical scale. For VodafoneThree the awards supply the core vendor relationships on which it intends to meet regulatory commitments and commercial targets. The contracts will shape vendor competition in the UK and influence how quickly advanced 5G features reach businesses and consumers.
