Virgin Media O2 has announced that it will acquire 78.8 MHz of spectrum from Vodafone in the UK.

The acquisition, worth £343 million ($469m), will provide the carrier with a network boost, taking Virgin Media O2’s total mobile spectrum share to approximately 30 percent of the UK market.

The deal is part of a wider agreement that the carrier struck with Vodafone UK last year, which included a network sharing deal for the next decade.

Virgin Media’s spectrum acquisition from Vodafone was part of the latter’s push to sweeten regulators over its merger with Three, which completed earlier this month.

“This acquisition of spectrum will not only create greater balance in holdings across the UK’s mobile networks, but for Virgin Media O2 it will allow us to boost coverage and further improve our network quality, building on the significant investment we are already making in our mobile network,” said Lutz Schüler, CEO of Virgin Media O2.

“We’re committed to giving our customers a reliable mobile experience across the country, and this increase in spectrum will help us deliver on that.”

The acquisition covers 20 MHz of 1,400 MHz supplemental downlink, 18.8 MHz of 2,100 MHz frequency division duplex, 20 MHz of 2,600 MHz time division duplex, and 20 MHz of 3,400 MHz time division duplex.

Virgin Media O2 said the deal will be partially funded by the minority stake sale in Cornerstone, its tower JV, last year, with spectrum payments extending beyond 2025 and deployment occurring over the medium term, starting this year.

In March, Virgin Media O2 outlined plans to invest £700 million ($959m) into its mobile network this year in an effort to improve its reliability, speed, and coverage across the UK.

The figure equates to around £2 million ($2.74m) a day.