The service went live yesterday and, as previously announced, the pilot covers the platforms and tunnels between Westminster and Canning Town. Other mobile network operators including Vodafone are included in the programme, but have not yet confirmed whether their service is also live.
The pilot service will cover ticket halls and corridors within stations along this section of the Jubilee line, with the exception of London Bridge and Waterloo stations. TfL is now looking at extending the pilot to cover the remaining platforms and tunnel sections of the Jubilee line by the end of the year.
Marc Allera, CEO of BT’s consumer division, said, “This is a big step for both connectivity, and for London. We’re looking forward to seeing how our customers use 4G on the Underground – it’s a big step forward for keeping entertained, and keeping in touch. We know how valuable that is, and this switch on aims to pave the way for a wider rollout across the Underground.”
Shashi Verma, chief technology officer at TfL, added, “We are delighted to have delivered this pilot of 4G mobile signal on the eastern end of the Jubilee line. This has been very complex work to install the necessary equipment to allow our customers to be able to get phone reception within our tunnels while keeping the stations open and operational.
“We are now looking at extending the pilot to cover the entire Jubilee line by the end of the year, as well as award our wider concession to all the whole Underground network to be connected in the future.”
The pilot aims to pave the way for a wider network rollout across all of the Underground in the coming years, providing network signal to the 5 million commuters that use the service every day.
