Mobile Phone Technology

A Mobile Network Operator (MNO), also known as a Mobile Network Carrier, provides the infrastructure through which mobile services are delivered. When a mobile customer requests a service, such as a phone call, SMS message or mobile data, this is delivered by one of the MNOs.

In the UK, there are three MNOs in order of customer base size:

• Vodafone Three, which is owned by Vodafone and the Hutchison Telecoms Group.
• EE, which is owned by BT.
• O2, which is owned by Virgin Media O2.

These three companies provide the mobile network in the UK. They purchase the licences, set up the network and manage the provided services. In addition, there are a number of mobile network virtual operators in the UK. These organisations piggy-back on one of the three main network providers.

A bit of history.

• Vodafone and Cellnet were the two operators that launched the original 1G analogue network in the UK. Vodafone has kept the same name throughout the 2G era. 3G, 4G and 5G. Both companies are listed on the UK stock market. Cellnet was originally owned by BT. It was subsequently sold to Telefónica and rebranded as O2, and is now owned by Virgin Media O2.
• When the 2G licences were allocated, two more operators were permitted to enter the market, in addition to Vodafone and O2. Orange and One-2-One were the two companies allocated 2G frequencies. One-2-One originally intended to run its network within the M25, but later expanded to cover the whole of the UK. The company was later acquired by T-Mobile, resulting in a related name change.
• As part of the 3G licence offer, the UK government wanted to see another company enter the market. THREE took this position. Vodafone, O2, T-Mobile and Orange all operated 3G networks.
• Vodafone, O2, Three, Orange and T-Mobile were allocated frequencies in the 4G auction. BT also purchased some 4G frequencies, but never ran a separate network.
• Shortly after the 4G frequencies were allocated, BT took ownership of both T-Mobile and Orange. The combined 4G network (Orange, T-Mobile and BT) was operated under the EE brand. Initially, the 2G network kept its original names, but everything was later changed to EE.
• All four existing networks purchased frequencies to run 5G: Vodafone, O2, EE and Three. Initially, Ofcom released frequencies ranging from 3.4 to 3.6 GHz for 5G, and later frequencies of 800 MHz and 3.6–3.8 GHz.
• In June 2025, Vodafone and Three will amalgamate to form one company and one network, although it will take a number of years for the two networks to merge completely. Currently, there is some network sharing, which will increase over the years. Both brands are advertised and marketed independently.

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