Europe

VodafoneThree switches on Ericsson AIR 3266 radio at a London 5G site

The first commercial site went live in October. The AI software trial and any nationwide rollout of that software remain pending.

VodafoneThree said on November 4 that the first site on its commercial London network equipped with Ericsson’s AIR 3266 radio had gone live. The activation took place in October 2026. It is a concrete step in the 5G radio access network, but the announcement does not say how many London sites already use this model or claim that a nationwide rollout is complete. [1][2]

The Massive MIMO equipment uses mid-band spectrum and supports up to 400 MHz of bandwidth, according to the operator. VodafoneThree says it weighs 16 kilograms and uses at least 30% less energy than equipment currently deployed. Those figures are company specifications and comparisons, not independent measurements of performance on the London network. [1]

The radio is part of an Ericsson modernization agreement covering more than 10,000 sites and the core network. Separately, VodafoneThree plans to test an AI network scheduler before its financial year ends; only after validation does it plan a nationwide software rollout in 2027. An initial test result of up to 20% higher downlink throughput under congestion does not describe current commercial service either. [1][2]

Light Reading, a separately owned newsroom, covered the announcement, but the technical figures and targets chiefly come from VodafoneThree and Ericsson. [2]

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