London Underground to Have Full 4G Coverage by 2024

Passengers will be able to access 4G mobile data on the entirety of the London Underground by 2024, Transport for London (TfL) and Mayor Sadiq Khan have announced.

The announcement follows the successful trial of mobile connectivity on the Jubilee Line, launched last March. In the non-commercial pilot project, TfL installed a neutral host distributed antenna system (DAS) and hundreds of kilometres of fibre optic cable in the eastern portion of the Jubilee Line, between Westminster to North Greenwich stations.

The trial gave passengers on all four mobile networks—EE, O2, Three and Vodafone—access to data in tunnels, ticket halls and corridors. Travellers could make phone calls, check up-to-date travel information and browse the internet “uninterrupted” during their journeys.

The pilot project was expected to run for 24 months until March 2022, but was such a success (despite low ridership on the Underground during the pandemic), that TfL is moving ahead with the rollout across the rest of its network.

The transport authority has awarded a 20-year contract to BAI Communications, a global provider of mobile infrastructure. BAI will install the thousands of kilometres of cables required to support the service and give mobile operators wholesale access.

Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, said: “I’m delighted to announce today that I am fulfilling that commitment and full internet access will be available across the Tube, with key central London stations such as Oxford Circus and Euston set to benefit before the end of next year.

“Protecting jobs and stimulating our city’s economy is a top priority for me as London rebuilds after this pandemic, and investing in London’s connectivity and digital infrastructure is central to this.”

The first stations to benefit, with connectivity by the end of 2022, include some of the busiest: Oxford Circus, Tottenham Court Road, Euston, Camden Town and Bank.

Currently, 260 stations on the network are covered by a WiFi network deployed by Virgin Media several years ago. Mobile operators EE, O2 and Vodafone purchased wholesale access to the network for their customers, while other passengers have to pay for access. Just last week Vodafone quietly dropped support for Virgin Media’s underground WiFi, forcing customers to purchase passes to get online, at the cost of £3 per day, £5 per week or £15 per month.

The experience with the WiFi network on the tube raises the possibility that some mobile operators won’t reach agreements with BAI, which is likely to charge steep fees for wholesale access to a network that will be expensive to build. This could mean customers of some mobile providers have access to data underground, while others don’t or have to purchase daily, weekly or monthly passes.