24 May 2022

City of London hosts mobile connectivity pilot

Mobile infrastructure services provider Cornerstone has announced a partnership with Freshwave to deliver a mobile connectivity pilot which it claims will help “future-proof” the City of London Corporation’s small cell communication infrastructure.

Connectivity infrastructure as a service provider Freshwave said it will upgrade existing infrastructure in 10 sites across London’s Square Mile to make it capable of delivering multi-operator 4G and 5G connectivity at street level using dark fibre and small cells.

Cornerstone has a concession with the City Corporation that spans Queen Victoria Street with the October trial expected to cover sites including Bank, Mansion House, the Millennium Bridge and Blackfriars.

According to the duo, the ambition is for a City-wide deployment to deliver faster mobile connectivity speeds across the whole Square Mile if the 10 site trial is successful.

Simon Frumkin, Freshwave’s CEO, said: “I’m pleased that we’re partnering with Cornerstone on this prestigious project. The City of London is one of the pre-eminent financial districts in the world and we’re proud to be bringing our leading multi-operator network service expertise to this pilot.”

Freshwave will be installing or upgrading City Corporation street assets so that the same asset can be used by multiple mobile network operators (MNOs).