Bad news -- it looks like mobile phones may work on the Tube after all,
according to that ever accurate source, the Evening Standard. So no more
cutting off of noisy phone callers as the train enters the tunnel.
__________
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23880176-boris-johnson-wants-mobile-coverage-on-tube-in-time-for-2012.do
Boris Johnson wants mobile coverage on Tube in time for 2012
Pippa Crerar, City Hall Editor
20.09.10

Commuters could use their mobile phones and Blackberries on the Tube by
the 2012 Olympics.

Boris Johnson is in discussions with the UK's big mobile phone companies
to share the £100 million cost of setting up mobile coverage.

It would mean Tube passengers could stay in mobile range throughout
their journey, a move which could boost the capital's economy, although
there would almost certainly be some quiet carriages on Underground
trains where phones were banned.

The Mayor is also understood to be pushing for mobile coverage on
Eurostar services.

He is nearing an agreement with the five main operators — Vodafone, O2,
Orange, T-Mobile and 3 — over the final funding details.

However, City Hall insisted that it would not cost commuters or
taxpayers a penny.

Mr Johnson's predecessor Ken Livingstone also held talks with operators
about the scheme but the plans were never realised.

While the move is technically possible, project costs have so far been
prohibitively high.

The Mayor is understood to have taken it upon himself to “bash heads
together” in the mobile phone industry to make sure the plan goes ahead
this time.

Mr Johnson first revealed his plans at the State of London debate in
June. But he also said: “There are big technical difficulties. It's very
expensive.”

[X-posting to uk.telecom.mobile]

On 22/09/10 11:24, Recliner wrote:
Bad news -- it looks like mobile phones may work on the Tube after all,
according to that ever accurate source, the Evening Standard. So no more
cutting off of noisy phone callers as the train enters the tunnel.
__________
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23880176-boris-johnson-wants-mobile-coverage-on-tube-in-time-for-2012.do

Perhaps the Londoners here can set me straight on this.

Back when One2One first launched, it launched as a London-only network.
Its selling point, apart from being cheaper than Cellnet and Vodafone,
was that it claimed better coverage in the capital than the two national
networks.

I have strong recollections that part of that claim was that it worked
on the tube. I remember quite specifically reading about this, down to
(at least some) discussion about the technology and the use of leaky
feeders.

Am I mistaken? Did One2One ever work on the tube, or was that just a
plan that never came to fruition? And if it did work on the tube, what
happened to that infrastructure and why and when did it stop working?

-roy

"Roy Badami" wrote in message

[X-posting to uk.telecom.mobile]

On 22/09/10 11:24, Recliner wrote:
Bad news -- it looks like mobile phones may work on the Tube after
all, according to that ever accurate source, the Evening Standard.
So no more cutting off of noisy phone callers as the train enters
the tunnel. __________
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23880176-boris-johnson-wants-mobile-coverage-on-tube-in-time-for-2012.do

Perhaps the Londoners here can set me straight on this.

Back when One2One first launched, it launched as a London-only
network. Its selling point, apart from being cheaper than Cellnet
and Vodafone, was that it claimed better coverage in the capital than
the two national networks.

I have strong recollections that part of that claim was that it worked
on the tube. I remember quite specifically reading about this, down
to (at least some) discussion about the technology and the use of
leaky feeders.

Am I mistaken? Did One2One ever work on the tube, or was that just a
plan that never came to fruition? And if it did work on the tube,
what happened to that infrastructure and why and when did it stop
working?

I don't think it was ever more than a plan. And I think originally it
was only going to work in stations, not the tunnels between them.

On 22/09/10 11:55, Recliner wrote:

I don't think it was ever more than a plan. And I think originally it
was only going to work in stations, not the tunnels between them.

I'm almost certain there were at least plans to have it work in the
tunnels, because I remember the discussion of leaky feeders at the time.

Basically, you run a piece of coax along the tunnel (that's the feeder),
and at intervals the shielding is removed from a short length of coax,
which causes the feeder to leak RF (i.e. act as an antenna).

-roy

"Roy Badami" wrote in message

On 22/09/10 11:55, Recliner wrote:

I don't think it was ever more than a plan. And I think originally it
was only going to work in stations, not the tunnels between them.

I'm almost certain there were at least plans to have it work in the
tunnels, because I remember the discussion of leaky feeders at the
time.
Basically, you run a piece of coax along the tunnel (that's the
feeder), and at intervals the shielding is removed from a short
length of coax, which causes the feeder to leak RF (i.e. act as an
antenna).

Yes, I know, but I think their initial plans were less ambitious. I
don't know if the close fit between metal bodied tube trains and the
mainly metal tunnels would cause any problems with reception.

On 22 Sep, 11:55, "Recliner" wrote:
"Roy Badami" wrote in message





[X-posting to uk.telecom.mobile]

On 22/09/10 11:24, Recliner wrote:
Bad news -- it looks like mobile phones may work on the Tube after
all, according to that ever accurate source, the Evening Standard.
So no more cutting off of noisy phone callers as the train enters
the tunnel. __________
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23880176-boris-johnson....

Perhaps the Londoners here can set me straight on this.

Back when One2One first launched, it launched as a London-only
*network. Its selling point, apart from being cheaper than Cellnet
and Vodafone, was that it claimed better coverage in the capital than
the two national networks.

I have strong recollections that part of that claim was that it worked
on the tube. *I remember quite specifically reading about this, down
to (at least some) discussion about the technology and the use of
leaky feeders.

Am I mistaken? *Did One2One ever work on the tube, or was that just a
plan that never came to fruition? *And if it did work on the tube,
what happened to that infrastructure and why and when did it stop
working?

I don't think it was ever more than a plan. And I think originally it
was only going to work in stations, not the tunnels between them.

Have they got the emergency services' Tetra radios working in the Tube
yet? This was one of the recommendations post 7/7. Presumably it'd
be relatively easy to piggy-back civilian mobile traffic onto that
infrastructure if it has actually been completed.
--
Roy

On 22/09/2010 11:55, Recliner wrote:

Am I mistaken? Did One2One ever work on the tube, or was that just a
plan that never came to fruition? And if it did work on the tube,
what happened to that infrastructure and why and when did it stop
working?

I don't think it was ever more than a plan. And I think originally it
was only going to work in stations, not the tunnels between them.


There were some stations that had CT2 telepoint (Hutchinson Rabbit, BT
Phonepoint, Mercury Callpoint and Zonephone) equipment installed in or
near stations. This wasn't compatible with PCN/GSM mobile comms, but
might be the original recollection? This was between 1989 and 1994.

--
Adrian C

"Roy Badami" wrote in message
...
On 22/09/10 11:55, Recliner wrote:

I don't think it was ever more than a plan. And I think originally it
was only going to work in stations, not the tunnels between them.

I'm almost certain there were at least plans to have it work in the
tunnels, because I remember the discussion of leaky feeders at the time.

Basically, you run a piece of coax along the tunnel (that's the feeder),
and at intervals the shielding is removed from a short length of coax,
which causes the feeder to leak RF (i.e. act as an antenna).
-roy


About ten years ago Orange put leaky feeder in the tunnels
on the West coast line out of Euston at least as far as Northampton

Steve Terry
--
"I would like to plead for my right to investigate natural phenomena
without having guns pointed at me.
I also ask for the right to be wrong without being hanged for it."
- Wilhelm Reich, November 1947

"Roy Stilling" wrote in message
...
On 22 Sep, 11:55, "Recliner" wrote:
"Roy Badami" wrote in message



On 22/09/10 11:24, Recliner wrote:
snip
Have they got the emergency services' Tetra radios working in the Tube
yet? This was one of the recommendations post 7/7. Presumably it'd
be relatively easy to piggy-back civilian mobile traffic onto that
infrastructure if it has actually been completed.
Roy


If the emergency services had adopted GSM Pro instead of Tetra,
they could have added leaky feeder down the tube for all to use
at least 10 years ago.

Steve Terry
--
"I would like to plead for my right to investigate natural phenomena
without having guns pointed at me.
I also ask for the right to be wrong without being hanged for it."
- Wilhelm Reich, November 1947

In message , at 11:24:29 on
Wed, 22 Sep 2010, Recliner remarked:

The Mayor is also understood to be pushing for mobile coverage on
Eurostar services.

Long overdue. While coverage out in the open in east Kent has improved
enormously during the last fifteen years, it's high time they provided
coverage in the various (and the iconic) tunnels.
--
Roland Perry