FEATURE: GOING UNDERGROUND
of the ins why one la p x e k r o Netw ers The Mobile takes its us s m te s y s o est metr world’s larg . e black hole into a mobil The London Underground is the fourth largest metro system in the world in terms of track mileage, with only Seoul, Beijing and Shanghai laying down more steel. 45% of its 400km or so is underground, and that means that for almost all those 180km, there is no mobile coverage. It often intrigues visitors who see Londoners apparently glued to their phones in bars, at work, on buses and as they walk along the street. Yet step underground and the chatting, messaging and browsing stops, and commuters are reduced to stabbing at a game, or to switching devices to a Kindle or even a book. Some have even been known to engage in conversation, although this is officially frowned upon by local bylaws. 1.2 billion journeys were made on the system during 2012, and for most of those journeys London’s commuters, day trippers and tourists were left to stare at
47
STATIONS
SFR & RATP are also partnering to provide Wi-Fi in 47 metro and RER stations.
170
MAJOR METRO AND RER STATIONS
By 2015, all smartphone and tablet users can use data whether on a platform or in the train
100%
COVERAGE 2015
TUBE TIMLINE
2007
MOBILE COVERAGE FIRST PROPOSED London Underground invites tenders for a commercial trial of coverage on two lines. It receives three tenders, none of which it considers commercially viable, and the project is shelved.
2011
HUAWEI’S
OFFER COMES FROM LEFT-FIELD A strange development sees Huawei offer £50 million worth of services and equipment to get mobile coverage in stations and tunnels. The solution proposed siting mobile base stations on platforms and concourses. The idea is dropped, being both politically controversial, and technically a bit of a challenge, even by Huawei’s own admission.
VIRGIN INSTALLS 1,000 WIFI APS IN 72 STATIONS
2012
CO
4
> 201
Objective is to cover 75% of metro and RER users by the end of 2014, meaning service in 170 of the major metro and RER stations.
2015
75% PARIS METRO
GE VERA
empty bars of coverage on their screen. Why? Why, when most metro systems in the world have long carried signal throughout the map, has London never followed suit? It’s a question that many Londoners don’t have the answer to. They just sort of shrug and accept it as some natural law: it’s cold at the poles, the sun rises in the East, and the London Underground doesn’t have mobile coverage. Of course, it should be pointed out that many Londoners don’t want mobile coverage on the Tube. It’s the last haven, they say, of peace away from intrusive ring tones and snatches of other peoples’ conversations. A not exactly scientific poll carried out in February 2011 found that 75% of respondents didn’t want to see mobile coverage on the Tube. Yet many find it strange that the Tube remains dark.
LONDON’S
If we can’t get cellular coverage down there, we can at least get some WiFi going, thinks Transport for London. Virgin installs Cisco WiFi APs across a range of stations. Mobile customers can now log-on through partnership deals struck with EE and Vodafone. At one stage, 90,000 users a day were signing on.
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