Vodafone and EE bring mobile coverage to Channel Tunnel

Everything Goes · 09-01-2014, 09:06

Going Underground? Well if you are in the Channel Tunnel you can expect 2G and 3G coverage on Vodafone and EE from March 2014.

http://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php...el-tunnel.html

daclick · 09-01-2014, 09:20

Can I just say.....

Bring on the moans for EE/vod to sort out they're normal coverage first.

wilt · 09-01-2014, 09:21

O2 are late to every party. First London Underground wifi and now this.

iangrad · 09-01-2014, 09:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by daclick

Can I just say.....

Bring on the moans for EE/vod to sort out they're normal coverage first.

I changed from Voda to EE ( 4G ) 8 weeks ago and find the data coverage fantastic -- sometimes out in the sticks ( Yorkshire ) I have coverage in 3G where there was no coverage at all even for just calls .

Mark C · 09-01-2014, 09:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by Everything Goes

Going Underground? Well if you are in the Channel Tunnel you can expect 2G and 3G coverage on Vodafone and EE from March 2014.

http://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php...el-tunnel.html

Took their time, the French networks have been available for sometime on the UK bound bore.

Mark C · 09-01-2014, 09:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by iangrad

I changed from Voda to EE ( 4G ) 8 weeks ago and find the data coverage fantastic -- sometimes out in the sticks ( Yorkshire ) I have coverage in 3G where there was no coverage at all even for just calls .

+1 Here in Central Southern England

I made the change on Oct 1

TheBigM · 09-01-2014, 09:59

I travel around the country for work and I'm finding Three's 3G to have much better coverage than any signal from Vodafone and far, far better than Voda's 3G coverage and speeds.

That said, Voda's 3G speeds have noticeably improved in the recent past, that may be a benefit from their work on 4G.

mogzyboy · 09-01-2014, 10:37

Is EE's work on this part of MBNL? Or is it a separate thing?

enapace · 09-01-2014, 10:56

Interesting that is is happening but won't be a major impact until roaming charges are gone. You are barely in the tunnel so a good idea for the future I hope O2 and Three get this sorted out as well.

clonmult · 09-01-2014, 10:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by iangrad

I changed from Voda to EE ( 4G ) 8 weeks ago and find the data coverage fantastic -- sometimes out in the sticks ( Yorkshire ) I have coverage in 3G where there was no coverage at all even for just calls .

I'm on both EE (3G) and Voda (3G) and that way I get pretty decent coverage. Sometimes out in the middle of nowhere one will give coverage while the other doesn't.

qasdfdsaq · 09-01-2014, 11:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by wilt

3 are late to every party. First London Underground wifi and now this.

Fixed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by enapace

Interesting that is is happening but won't be a major impact until roaming charges are gone. You are barely in the tunnel so a good idea for the future I hope O2 and Three get this sorted out as well.

Some of us haven't paid roaming charges for years. In any case it's a nice 15 minutes without signal even if it's only 10% of the overall journey. 15 minutes without signal even on a domestic train is annoying enough.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark C

Took their time, the French networks have been available for sometime on the UK bound bore.

Well yes, even a decade ago every other European country I visited had mobile coverage from *most* networks in tunnels and metro systems as standard. The UK is terribly behind on any sort of underground coverage.

Even back in 2003 the Berlin, Paris and Munich metro systems already had 2G coverage throughout the network, and they all now have partial 3G coverage too. Dunno about then but Madrid, Rome, Lisbon, Barcelona all have underground mobile coverage today. Railway tunnels throughout those countries also had coverage as standard on all networks.

London? Bugger all. Partial wifi coverage at best - only at stations, and even then not all.

wilt · 09-01-2014, 11:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by qasdfdsaq

Fixed.

Well, Three aren't late, they haven't shown up. But they are a budget network so not surprising.

qasdfdsaq · 09-01-2014, 11:49

O2 are a budget network for old people with big budgets.

el_bardos · 09-01-2014, 11:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by qasdfdsaq

London? Bugger all. Partial wifi coverage at best - only at stations, and even then not all.

There's not a lot of space to put network equipment down there, issues with cooling/ extra heat when it's already stifling down there in summer and on all but a few lines that have double tracks, very limited maintenance windows to run cables anywhere away from platform areas.

So a lot more to do with the antequated nature of London underground than lack of willingness to provide the coverage there, I'd say.

qasdfdsaq · 09-01-2014, 12:03

And yet nowhere else in Europe has similar problems?

Funny you mention the stifling heat. Last time I was in Madrid the temperatures were 39'c and I spent most of the time laughing at everyone on Facebook complaining about the 24'c heat in Britain "melting" them.

Somehow their mobile networks still worked fine underground...

jonmorris · 09-01-2014, 12:22

I'd imagine the sub-surface lines (H&C, Met etc) would be relatively easy, but the deep level tunnels might pose more of a problem.

A lot of other European cities don't have the deep level (and also rather small/tight) tunnels and so it's a lot cheaper to implement.

Perhaps we should start with the sub-surface lines, but clearly the public will get upset and confused as to why only a handful of stations/lines are enabled for mobile/data.

But it will happen, eventually.

qasdfdsaq · 09-01-2014, 12:26

Are you saying the British are more easily confused than the French or Germans?

What about our national railway lines?

Yeah, it'll happen "eventually" but the whole point is we're behind. In other European countries it happened over a decade ago. We haven't even started on the "easy" lines yet.

Same goes for dedicated high-speed railways to be honest. Britain used to be a world leader in railway infrastructure. As I recall the French had their domestic section running to the Channel Tunnel operating at 300KM/h from the day the tunnel opened while Britain took thirteen years to catch up.

Many European countries are incorporating mobile coverage as standard in tunnels on newly built lines. Us? I'll have to get back to you when/if HS2 ever gets built.

jonmorris · 09-01-2014, 12:52

Don't get me started on HS2 and other new railway lines. I can't believe we allow people to protest and delay us doing anything.

I have no idea how confused people might be anywhere else, but you can certainly see that people will get upset that people who use the Circle line might be able to use their phone, but those who have to use the Northern Line cannot.

I didn't mean that as a reason for not doing it obviously!

Our underground network is very old, very large and quite complex. Ventilation is an issue, as are other things like water and the amount of other cables carried that might cause problems.

Again, not impossible to fix, but I do think that in the current economic climate there probably isn't the money. I believe Huawei offered to install the equipment at a lower price (maybe even free, in return for a revenue share?) but for whatever reason that didn't go ahead.

On the plus side, Wi-Fi on the underground is unbelievably good. Getting near 100Mbps at some stations, and 50+Mbps for uploading is incredible. If it means sitting on the platform and letting another train go, so be it.

Frankly, I only want data and don't care about voice. In fact, for the sake of all of us, I'd rather we didn't have voice!

sethpet · 09-01-2014, 20:17

Seen many quotes by various networks over the years basically saying that it's uneconomical to put coverage in London underground due to the rates the underground want to charge.

Also adds a much bigger security risk to the underground system.

Mark C · 09-01-2014, 20:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by sethpet

Also adds a much bigger security risk to the underground system.

In what way ? No worse than the CT ?

enapace · 09-01-2014, 20:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark C

In what way ? No worse than the CT ?

Mobile activated bombs would be a massive security risk on the underground.

rjb101 · 09-01-2014, 21:33

I think we can get by without a mobile signal on the underground.

qasdfdsaq · 09-01-2014, 22:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by enapace

Mobile activated bombs would be a massive security risk on the underground.

As opposed to mobile activated bombs on the Spanish or German underground?

Nah, most bombs are timed anyway. I don't see any advantage to mobile activated bombs. Just another potential point of failure, as if we don't have enough already.

enapace · 09-01-2014, 22:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by qasdfdsaq

As opposed to mobile activated bombs on the Spanish or German underground?

Nah, most bombs are timed anyway. I don't see any advantage to mobile activated bombs. Just another potential point of failure, as if we don't have enough already.

Sorry I was just trying doing bad sarcasm when person I quoted said about security concerns.

qasdfdsaq · 09-01-2014, 22:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by rjb101

I think we can get by without a mobile signal on the underground.

I'm sure we can get by without 4G/mobile phones/alcohol/football. I'd still like it though.

Most times I'm on the underground I'm checking details for the rest of my journey - where I'm going, how to get there, etc. Being able to do it on the train or on the way up means less standing around in the rain once I get out of the station waiting for Google Maps to load.

Also in unfamiliar places/countries it's useful when you're using Google Maps (or an alternative public transport map) to tell you when to get off.

09-01-2014, 09:06	#1
Everything Goes Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: In the future.... Posts: 11,259	Vodafone and EE bring mobile coverage to Channel Tunnel Going Underground? Well if you are in the Channel Tunnel you can expect 2G and 3G coverage on Vodafone and EE from March 2014. http://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php...el-tunnel.html

09-01-2014, 09:20	#2
daclick Forum Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 3,336	Can I just say..... Bring on the moans for EE/vod to sort out they're normal coverage first.

09-01-2014, 09:21	#3
wilt Forum Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Potterspury Posts: 930	O2 are late to every party. First London Underground wifi and now this.

09-01-2014, 09:43	#4
iangrad Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 772	Quote: Originally Posted by daclick Can I just say..... Bring on the moans for EE/vod to sort out they're normal coverage first. I changed from Voda to EE ( 4G ) 8 weeks ago and find the data coverage fantastic -- sometimes out in the sticks ( Yorkshire ) I have coverage in 3G where there was no coverage at all even for just calls .

09-01-2014, 09:45	#5
Mark C Forum Member Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Hampshire Posts: 8,102	Quote: Originally Posted by Everything Goes Going Underground? Well if you are in the Channel Tunnel you can expect 2G and 3G coverage on Vodafone and EE from March 2014. http://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php...el-tunnel.html Took their time, the French networks have been available for sometime on the UK bound bore.

09-01-2014, 09:47	#6
Mark C Forum Member Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Hampshire Posts: 8,102	Quote: Originally Posted by iangrad I changed from Voda to EE ( 4G ) 8 weeks ago and find the data coverage fantastic -- sometimes out in the sticks ( Yorkshire ) I have coverage in 3G where there was no coverage at all even for just calls . +1 Here in Central Southern England I made the change on Oct 1

09-01-2014, 09:59	#7
TheBigM Forum Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: moon Posts: 12,983	I travel around the country for work and I'm finding Three's 3G to have much better coverage than any signal from Vodafone and far, far better than Voda's 3G coverage and speeds. That said, Voda's 3G speeds have noticeably improved in the recent past, that may be a benefit from their work on 4G.

09-01-2014, 10:37	#8
mogzyboy Forum Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Wales Posts: 4,554	Is EE's work on this part of MBNL? Or is it a separate thing?

09-01-2014, 10:56	#9
enapace Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2013 Posts: 4,249	Interesting that is is happening but won't be a major impact until roaming charges are gone. You are barely in the tunnel so a good idea for the future I hope O2 and Three get this sorted out as well.

09-01-2014, 10:57	#10
clonmult Forum Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: UK Posts: 3,291	Quote: Originally Posted by iangrad I changed from Voda to EE ( 4G ) 8 weeks ago and find the data coverage fantastic -- sometimes out in the sticks ( Yorkshire ) I have coverage in 3G where there was no coverage at all even for just calls . I'm on both EE (3G) and Voda (3G) and that way I get pretty decent coverage. Sometimes out in the middle of nowhere one will give coverage while the other doesn't.

09-01-2014, 11:14	#11
qasdfdsaq Inactive Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 3,286	Quote: Originally Posted by wilt 3 are late to every party. First London Underground wifi and now this. Fixed. Quote: Originally Posted by enapace Interesting that is is happening but won't be a major impact until roaming charges are gone. You are barely in the tunnel so a good idea for the future I hope O2 and Three get this sorted out as well. Some of us haven't paid roaming charges for years. In any case it's a nice 15 minutes without signal even if it's only 10% of the overall journey. 15 minutes without signal even on a domestic train is annoying enough. Quote: Originally Posted by Mark C Took their time, the French networks have been available for sometime on the UK bound bore. Well yes, even a decade ago every other European country I visited had mobile coverage from most networks in tunnels and metro systems as standard. The UK is terribly behind on any sort of underground coverage. Even back in 2003 the Berlin, Paris and Munich metro systems already had 2G coverage throughout the network, and they all now have partial 3G coverage too. Dunno about then but Madrid, Rome, Lisbon, Barcelona all have underground mobile coverage today. Railway tunnels throughout those countries also had coverage as standard on all networks. London? Bugger all. Partial wifi coverage at best - only at stations, and even then not all.

09-01-2014, 11:30	#12
wilt Forum Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Potterspury Posts: 930	Quote: Originally Posted by qasdfdsaq Fixed. Well, Three aren't late, they haven't shown up. But they are a budget network so not surprising.

09-01-2014, 11:49	#13
qasdfdsaq Inactive Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 3,286	O2 are a budget network for old people with big budgets.

09-01-2014, 11:53	#14
el_bardos Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 2,970	Quote: Originally Posted by qasdfdsaq London? Bugger all. Partial wifi coverage at best - only at stations, and even then not all. There's not a lot of space to put network equipment down there, issues with cooling/ extra heat when it's already stifling down there in summer and on all but a few lines that have double tracks, very limited maintenance windows to run cables anywhere away from platform areas. So a lot more to do with the antequated nature of London underground than lack of willingness to provide the coverage there, I'd say.

09-01-2014, 12:03	#15
qasdfdsaq Inactive Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 3,286	And yet nowhere else in Europe has similar problems? Funny you mention the stifling heat. Last time I was in Madrid the temperatures were 39'c and I spent most of the time laughing at everyone on Facebook complaining about the 24'c heat in Britain "melting" them. Somehow their mobile networks still worked fine underground...

09-01-2014, 12:22	#16
jonmorris Forum Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: a land filled with trolls Posts: 12,018	I'd imagine the sub-surface lines (H&C, Met etc) would be relatively easy, but the deep level tunnels might pose more of a problem. A lot of other European cities don't have the deep level (and also rather small/tight) tunnels and so it's a lot cheaper to implement. Perhaps we should start with the sub-surface lines, but clearly the public will get upset and confused as to why only a handful of stations/lines are enabled for mobile/data. But it will happen, eventually.

09-01-2014, 12:26	#17
qasdfdsaq Inactive Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 3,286	Are you saying the British are more easily confused than the French or Germans? What about our national railway lines? Yeah, it'll happen "eventually" but the whole point is we're behind. In other European countries it happened over a decade ago. We haven't even started on the "easy" lines yet. Same goes for dedicated high-speed railways to be honest. Britain used to be a world leader in railway infrastructure. As I recall the French had their domestic section running to the Channel Tunnel operating at 300KM/h from the day the tunnel opened while Britain took thirteen years to catch up. Many European countries are incorporating mobile coverage as standard in tunnels on newly built lines. Us? I'll have to get back to you when/if HS2 ever gets built.

09-01-2014, 12:52	#18
jonmorris Forum Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: a land filled with trolls Posts: 12,018	Don't get me started on HS2 and other new railway lines. I can't believe we allow people to protest and delay us doing anything. I have no idea how confused people might be anywhere else, but you can certainly see that people will get upset that people who use the Circle line might be able to use their phone, but those who have to use the Northern Line cannot. I didn't mean that as a reason for not doing it obviously! Our underground network is very old, very large and quite complex. Ventilation is an issue, as are other things like water and the amount of other cables carried that might cause problems. Again, not impossible to fix, but I do think that in the current economic climate there probably isn't the money. I believe Huawei offered to install the equipment at a lower price (maybe even free, in return for a revenue share?) but for whatever reason that didn't go ahead. On the plus side, Wi-Fi on the underground is unbelievably good. Getting near 100Mbps at some stations, and 50+Mbps for uploading is incredible. If it means sitting on the platform and letting another train go, so be it. Frankly, I only want data and don't care about voice. In fact, for the sake of all of us, I'd rather we didn't have voice!

09-01-2014, 20:17	#19
sethpet Forum Member Join Date: Aug 2013 Posts: 494	Seen many quotes by various networks over the years basically saying that it's uneconomical to put coverage in London underground due to the rates the underground want to charge. Also adds a much bigger security risk to the underground system.

09-01-2014, 20:27	#20
Mark C Forum Member Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Hampshire Posts: 8,102	Quote: Originally Posted by sethpet Also adds a much bigger security risk to the underground system. In what way ? No worse than the CT ?

09-01-2014, 20:46	#21
enapace Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2013 Posts: 4,249	Quote: Originally Posted by Mark C In what way ? No worse than the CT ? Mobile activated bombs would be a massive security risk on the underground.

DS Forums

Vodafone and EE bring mobile coverage to Channel Tunnel

09-01-2014, 21:33	#22
rjb101 Forum Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 2,609	I think we can get by without a mobile signal on the underground.

09-01-2014, 22:21	#23
qasdfdsaq Inactive Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 3,286	Quote: Originally Posted by enapace Mobile activated bombs would be a massive security risk on the underground. As opposed to mobile activated bombs on the Spanish or German underground? Nah, most bombs are timed anyway. I don't see any advantage to mobile activated bombs. Just another potential point of failure, as if we don't have enough already.

09-01-2014, 22:23	#24
enapace Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2013 Posts: 4,249	Quote: Originally Posted by qasdfdsaq As opposed to mobile activated bombs on the Spanish or German underground? Nah, most bombs are timed anyway. I don't see any advantage to mobile activated bombs. Just another potential point of failure, as if we don't have enough already. Sorry I was just trying doing bad sarcasm when person I quoted said about security concerns.

09-01-2014, 22:23	#25
qasdfdsaq Inactive Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 3,286	Quote: Originally Posted by rjb101 I think we can get by without a mobile signal on the underground. I'm sure we can get by without 4G/mobile phones/alcohol/football. I'd still like it though. Most times I'm on the underground I'm checking details for the rest of my journey - where I'm going, how to get there, etc. Being able to do it on the train or on the way up means less standing around in the rain once I get out of the station waiting for Google Maps to load. Also in unfamiliar places/countries it's useful when you're using Google Maps (or an alternative public transport map) to tell you when to get off.