Going Mobile on the Underground?

Boris Johnson, London Mayor, has stepped in the protracted discussions to provide mobile phone coverage on the underground in time for the 2012 London Olympics.


The operators had complained that they would not see any ROI for building the necessary infrastructure. Boris has apparently twisted appropriate arms, and we will now see Vodafone, O2, Orange, T-Mobile and 3 bearing the £100 million, or more, costs.

The plan is to deploy transmitters threaded along the roof of the London Underground's 112 miles of tunnels, with antennas placed at the end of each train carriage.

Boris has informed the five operators that he wants to see the entire Underground with coverage by the time of the games, and that the project should be funded by all the mobile operators, as against raising tube fares or sourcing money through taxpayers.