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Mobiles on the Tube
By Mark Prigg And Jonathan Prynn, Evening Standard Last updated at 00:00am on 31.05.05
Tube passengers could soon be able to use mobiles
All 275 London Underground stations are to get full mobile phone coverage within three years.
The decision follows a huge response from telecoms firms interested in installing the technology.
By last night's deadline about 65 firms said they may bid for the £150million contract, one of the biggest of its kind. LU said it was "delighted" by the response.
A final decision on whether to press ahead will be taken later this year but the spokesman made it clear that it was almost a certainty. It will allow mobile calls to be made when the train is in even the deepest Tube station.
A decision on whether to extend the coverage to the entire tunnel network will not be taken for several more years.
London is unusual among the mass transit networks of the world in having almost no sub-surface phone coverage.
Passengers on the metro systems of Berlin, Madrid, Singapore and Hong Kong have comprehensive coverage. About five per cent of all calls made in Hong Kong are made on subway trains or at stations.
The New York subway has a notoriously poor mobile service, but most other US networks have full coverage.
Around 140 of London Underground's stations already have a service because they are above ground. The rest either get only a sporadic signal or none at all.
Business leaders welcomed the move. A spokesman for the London Chamber of Commerce said: "It is essential if the Underground is going to be a credible conduit for business leaders who need to be in touch with their offices 24 hours a day."
However, some passengers said they dreaded the move. James Fearn, 28, an account manager, said the "inevitable mobile chatter represents a wholesale trampling of the long accepted etiquette: you don't talk, make eye contact or give any clues as to your life above ground".
There were also safety concerns from anti-mast campaigners. "We have done initial analysis of the effect these transmitters in a confined space will have, and we are very worried about it," said Ingrid Dickinson of Mast Sanity.
Brian McBride, the managing director of T-Mobile UK, said: "Frankly it is absurd that London Underground is not networked for mobiles."
Transport for London said: "We have always intended to begin this service in 2008, and as a public body we need to go through the tender process to ensure we get value for money. I'm pleased to report that we have had a lot of interest in the service."
