Plans to make mobile phone coverage available on the underground system in London have been scrapped.
However although no plans will be made for the system any time soon, London’s mayor Boris Johnson has hinted that there are still hopes for the idea. He has said technical difficulties from working in such old tunnels systems are the main reason the plans have no gone ahead.
Further inspection of the deep underground and very narrow tunnels make the project and incredibly complicated and expensive product to facilitate. Plans for this to be completed before the Olympics would be impossible due to the fact work can only take place at night.
Even the £50 million offer from Chinese telecom giant Huawei to begin the project was not enough to persuade other parties to be involved.
Holding fire on the plans has not met an entirely negative reaction, it seems many users were unsure of the prospect of having mobile coverage on the underground
Although some were excited by the idea, its been found that many tube users enjoy the small amount of time free from texts, emails and calls.
Boris Johnson said that he was disappointed that the technical issues had not been overcome. He also said that the ongoing extension of Wi-Fi services to London Underground platforms would continue regardless.
