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Comments (28)

• userbinator
  I wonder if they considered using the existing metal tracks as antennae, or even https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_line_communication to feed base stations in the trains themselves.So the ESN in the tunnels runs at 400 MHz, far lower than the 700 to 3,600 MHz range usually used by smartphones.It's worth noting that 450MHz was listed as one of the GSM bands, but apparently was never used: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GSM_frequency_bands#GSM-450
• Animats
  This is the new system for emergency communications? TfL just finished up an upgrade on that in 2021. That upgrade was built by Thales.[1] That system is purely for operational use, and is not cell phone compatible. It's compatible with the gear cops and fire brigades use. Is it being replaced?As late as 2018, the classic century-old system, with two bare wires on insulators on the tunnel walls, was still maintained.[2] Clipping a telephone handset to the two wires would connect to a dispatcher, and the wires were placed so that reaching out of the driver's cab to do this was possible. In addition, squeezing the wires together by hand would trip a relay and cut traction power. Is that still operational? The 2011 replacement was ISDN.[1] https://www.thalesgroup.com/en/news-centre/press-releases/th...[2] https://www.railengineer.co.uk/communications-on-the-central...
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  dbish
  Pretty neat but as someone who commutes every day on the New York subway I hope it’s never “cracked” here. Phone usage without headphones is already annoying enough and I greatly appreciate the various people trying to take calls eventually lose service.
• iLoveOncall
  Anyone who lives in London knows that phone coverage on the Tube is anything but "cracked".
• dfajgljsldkjag
  I had assumed the delay was technical but it turns out it was mostly about finding a business model that worked for everyone. It is good they finally settled on a shared infrastructure approach so they do not have to crowd the tunnels with extra equipment.
• zith
  Interesting! I know Sweden was not first, but Stockholm has had 3g coverage in the subway since 2005 and 4g since 2016.
• matham
  I'm having a really hard reading this. Not only are the paragraphs are so short, they each feel like part of a uncompleted thought.The content doesn't feel AI generated, but maybe it is? I read somewhere that short paragraphs is an AI signature!?
• testdelacc1
  As a resident with a phone problem I miss the underground not having any signal. Other people using TikTok doesn’t bother me so much because it’s relatively rare. My own tendencies with screen time bother me more. No internet actually forced me to read books more and I miss that.But this is a lot better for tourists who need the internet to navigate underground. So I’m pleased for them.
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  dotBen
  One of the frustrating things about international roaming in the UK is typically your plan does not include coverage on this neutral network on the underground
• hexbin010
  How London enabled TikTok addicts to annoy other passengers
• Tsiklon
  From looking at the WiFi ssid’s broadcast at the New York subway stations, I believe Boldyn also does the phone coverage here too
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  inshard
  The Paris metro figured this out perfectly way back in 2021 - full bars, 5G.
• anon
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• FridayoLeary
  >There’s another distance limit at work here, and that is the speed of light. It takes milliseconds for the signal in your phone to reach the hotel above ground and be handed over to the mobile network. But if it takes too long to get from phone to hotel, then your phone call s..a.rt..s..t o. br..e..ak up. As it happens, that distance is about 12km, so Boldyn needs nine hotels around London to cover the whole of the UndergroundI find that interesting. Another fascinating rabbit hole the article has sent me down is that there is an unused station called north end. I've been down that stretch before and i had no idea. Does anyone know if passengers can see it?
• bildabearg
  [flagged]