All Elizabeth Line stations in London, UK, now have 4G mobile coverage, Transport for London (TfL) confirmed this week.
In an update, TfL revealed Paddington, Canary Wharf, Whitechapel, and Woolwich stations all recently gained 4G mobile coverage.
TfL added that it's currently working on plans to provide mobile coverage across tunneled sections of the Elizabeth Line, with such connectivity between Bond Street and Liverpool Street expected to receive coverage within the coming month, with the whole line completed later this year.
Connectivity has been supported by neutral host provider Boldyn Networks, formerly BAI Communications.
The company was awarded a 20-year concession by TfL in June 2021 to provide high-speed, 5G-ready mobile coverage across the entire London Underground network.
All four UK operators, Vodafone, Virgin Media O2, BT (EE), and Three have provided their own network coverage on top of the network hosted by Boldyn.
"This is yet another step towards ensuring Londoners and visitors can stay connected on our transport network," said the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan. "I promised that customers would be able to access high-speed mobile coverage at all stations and in tunnels, and I'm pleased to see how quickly the team are moving to enable 4G and 5G connectivity."
TfL noted that it will expand its mobile coverage to the Bakerloo Line from next month. At present, around 31 out of 121 Tube stations with platforms that are underground, and therefore usually unable to get a mobile signal, have mobile coverage.
In February last year, EE went live with its 5G network in parts of the London Underground.
It was revealed a year earlier that BT Wholesale is providing data center space to support Boldyn.
The communications infrastructure firm signed a ‘multi-million-pound contract’ under which BT's wholesale unit will deliver a core part of BAI’s data center requirements and host infrastructure in one of the telco's London facilities.
Last week in Germany, O2 Telefónica and Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe completed the rollout of a 4G network across Berlin's U-Bahn subway system, with the installation of more than 1,000km of fiber and various wireless equipment.
Source: https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/elizabeth-line-gets-4g-coverage-boost-across-entire-line/