The company said that the roll out of the latest version of 5G technology (5G SA) across the country will provide rural businesses and communities with access to faster and more reliable connectivity than 5G non-standalone.
Among the industry that stand to benefit are healthcare, education and agriculture.
Currently, approximately 75 per cent of Northern Ireland’s rural area landmass is a total 5G not-spot.
Vodafone has already committed to exceeding the UK government's Shared Rural Network minimum target of bringing 4G to more than 85 per cent of Northern Ireland's geography, by ensuring at least 98 per cent of its landmass has access by 2027.
The company said that the proposed merger between Vodafone UK and Three UK would provide the scale needed to upgrade the network and roll out the technology to rural locations in Northern Ireland, with more than 98 per cent 5G SA geographic coverage by 2034. The service will also be available to 4G customers.
The 5G SA upgrade will enable the following solutions:
Healthcare: Drones equipped with 5G SA could be used in remote or hard-to-reach areas to provide vital information for first responders and care teams in emergency situations, such as fires or traffic collisions.
Agriculture: Farmers would be able to use new innovations like soil sensors to boost productivity, reduce environmental impact and drive growth.
Education: Offering advances in virtual classroom applications, enabling young people living in rural or remote communities to access specialist teaching.
Andrea Donà, chief network officer at Vodafone UK, said, "We know how vital access to connectivity is for everyone, so we want to ensure we do as much as we can to extend our coverage to rural Northern Ireland. Evidently, we need to accelerate the roll out of 5G infrastructure to every corner of the UK, and the proposed merger with Three UK will enable this, ensuring rural Northern Ireland doesn’t get left behind as a result."