Vodafone today said it is the first mobile network operator to deploy 5G multi-operator radio access network (MORAN) technology in the United Kingdom. The country’s four largest operators, including Vodafone UK, originally announced last year plans to share access to each others cell towers in rural areas on a reciprocal basis.

Network sharing has gained momentum amid 5G deployments as operators aim to decrease costs. The move could lower costs for energy and network equipment, but most operators are focusing these efforts in lightly populated areas where operations are least likely to provide a return on investment, let alone profit.

Last fall, China Telecom and China Unicom embarked on the largest network sharing agreement to date. Considering the size of their networks it’s unlikely to be outranked any time soon, if ever. The operators’ agreement also goes much further than anywhere else with respect to sharing spectrum and network infrastructure at large.

The second- and third-largest operators in the country are pooling resources to jointly build and manage a 5G RAN network to cut costs, but China Unicom and China Telecom will each build and manage its respective 5G mobile core.

Germany’s three major operators also banded together in November 2019 to improve network coverage and combat dead zones in rural areas, roads, rail, and inland waterway transportation routes. That effort called for the installation and operation of 6,000 new cell sites, a condition that the operators agreed to as part of the country’s 5G spectrum auction.

Operators in the United Kingdom haven’t mentioned plans to share spectrum, but the MORAN technology should enable the carriers to share the same mobile base station to reduce energy use and limit the number of sites required to provide coverage.

In July 2019, Vodafone UK and Telefónica-owned O2 UK agreed to share active 5G equipment, including radio antennas on joint network sites across the country. The operators also said 25% of towers will be set up with private elements to enable greater 5G network autonomy in 24 cities.

Vodafone UK also announced that it has deployed 5G service in Belfast, Edinburgh, Leeds, and expanded its 5G network around Greater Manchester. The operator ended 2019 with 5G in 32 cities and said it intends to increase 5G coverage to 50 cities or towns by the end of March.