Home to both palaces and Parliament and drawing millions of visitors each year, added to an equal number of those living and working there, Westminster is one of London’s busiest locations – and in a bid to improve mobile connectivity for its customers, operator O2 has deployed 24 new small cells across the boroughs.
Installed in high-demand locations, the compact mobile units are intended to boost capacity and make it easier for customers to make calls, send messages and use mobile data in busy parts of Westminster. The upgrade will look to support residents, businesses, commuters, tourists and visitors across one of the capital’s most popular and congested areas.
Small cells are intrinsically engineered to provide a cost-effective solution to improving network capacity in dense urban environments, commercial centres and visitor hotspots. Outdoor small cells are installed at street level, which makes them ideal for adding capacity to mobile networks, given that in busy urban areas, where large numbers of people use their mobiles simultaneously, demand on the macro network can be substantial.
They are also designed to alleviate a proportion of demand, offering support to the macro mobile network and a better user experience. Unlike traditional mobile towers, small cells are discreetly installed on existing street furniture, specifically targeting areas where demand for data is highest.
In terms of form, the small cells comprise discreet mobile units that can be installed on existing street furniture such as lamp posts, making them well-suited to Westminster, where conservation protections and additional planning controls can make larger infrastructure more difficult to deploy, said the operator.
By adding targeted capacity at street level, O2 is confident that they can help to ease pressure on the wider network and improve connectivity in busy public spaces, from city centres and transport hubs to commercial districts and visitor hotspots.
The Westminster deployment builds on O2’s wider small cells programme, with the operator now having the largest number of small cells of any UK mobile network operator, with more than 2,500 sites live nationwide, including in Plymouth, Bristol, Swansea and Guildford.
In March 2026, O2 installed small cells across key locations in the city of Bath, around shopping and tourist spots in the picturesque conurbation, including shopping areas and popular sites such as the Roman Baths and Victoria Art Museum. As will be the case with Westminster, the small cells were integrated into Bath’s existing street furniture such as lamp posts to blend with the streetscapes.
“Westminster is one of the busiest places in the country, so it is no surprise that mobile demand is extremely high. These small cells are a simple but effective way to add extra capacity exactly where people need it, helping customers stay connected on some of the capital’s busiest streets,” said Robert Joyce, director of mobile access engineering at O2, commenting on the roll-out. “This is about making sure the network keeps pace with how people use their phones every day.”
The upgrade forms part of Virgin Media O2’s £700m investment in its mobile network in 2026 to expand coverage, improve reliability and boost speeds. Forming part of VMO2’s wider £2bn investment in 2026 in its fixed and mobile networks and services, the plan includes major investments in mobile infrastructure and core network upgrades.
It also focuses on investment into parts of the network that experience the highest levels of demand and areas where connectivity is most critical. Priority areas where the operator is looking to deliver significant improvements include railways roads, dense urban areas, hard-to-reach remote locations, stadiums and venues.
