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London won't see mobile network on the tube in time for the Olympics
PLANS TO OFFER a mobile network on the tube by June 2012 have been put on ice.
Avoiding jokes about delays on the tube, it seems that the London Underground won't have a mobile network for the Olympics. It seems that the mobile network operators contracted by Transport fot Loneon (TFL) can't quite fathom the archaic infrastructure that holds the tube together.
O2, Vodafone, Three and Everything Everywhere won the tender from TFL to install a 3G network at tube stations on platforms, concourses and even in the tunnels. These companies have issued a joint statement to say they can't get the mobile network up and working in time for the Olympics.
"We have been working closely with infrastructure partners and London Underground for some time with the hope of delivering mobile services to the London Underground and are disappointed that it will not be possible to deliver such services in time for next year's Olympic games," O2's spokespeople told the INQURER.
The Wall Street Journal said that some of its sources fingered problems with finding power supplies and tracking down where the equipment was meant to go. Sounds rather like they didn't try turning the lights on. To be fair, the pride of Victorian London was dug so deep it has made modern tube 2.0 upgrades difficult to implement.
3G might have hit the skids but the WiFi roll out is still on track. Bubble blonde headed Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, is looking to negotiate contracts to install WiFi on the Underground, which is going to be heaven or hell depending on your view. BT worked with Transport for London (TFL) on a WiFi pilot scheme at Charing Cross, which apparently was considered a success.
Don't go pinning the blame on Boris for 3G going nowhere, though. Boris has a reasonable excuse because, being a politician, he didn't actually offer a definitive plan of action when he said he wanted a mobile network on the tube. He only said he wanted to have 3G installed on the tube but left the contractors to find their own way through the dark Underground caverns. µ
Tags: Hardware
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Perhaps they can offload the task to india if britain isn't up to such complexities as installing some basic stuff.
@Stephen. Yes, really, no power. Having had some dealings in the distant past with the Underground, there is no space whatsoever for new equipment racks. Then if you do find some space, you're not allowed to generate any extra heat ('cos ventilation / air con is maxed out already). So that means drawing no extra power. Hence 'no power'.
The plan's on hold because they can't find the power? What drives, the trains, steam? What powers the station lights, gas? We're used to wrong kind of leaves, but wrong kind of juice? Please!
I will be glad to see the day when mobile phones don't work on any train, tram or bus
In case you didn't get the memo, everyone except for journalists thinks that using 2.0 as an anachronism meaning 'progress' or next level infrastructure just doesn't say anything. Do we use '2.0' to describe the high-speed train line from London to Birmingham. No, that would be silly. The practice of using spurious Version 2.0 numbering for everything will die out, not least because the inspiration for it - HTML 2.0 - is fast changing from present tense to a distant memory.
So this is rant 1.0, but will you see me doing a rant 2.0. No way, Jose.