Up until now, London’s underground commuters have been subjected to Virgin’s extremely backwards and temperamental underground Wi-Fi connection.
The limitations of the existing service mean that passengers on the tube can only gain access to Wi-Fi whilst standing on the platform, and that’s only after going through a long-winded sign up process, just to be cut off once you step foot on the tube. Luckily, all of that is about to change…
After what feels like a century long wait, the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan confirmed that Londoners will finally be able to gain access to unlimited and uninterrupted 4G underground Wi-Fi.
The news comes after a series of trials that took place over the summer on the Waterloo & City lines. Thanks to the top mobile network operators; 3, Vodaphone, O2 and EE all playing their part and laying meters upon meters of fibre optic cables throughout the underground – the trial was successful.
The tests were deemed conclusive when the first ever London underground Wi-Fi call was made from one end of the line to the other, with zero interruptions or lags – what a time to be alive!
Excitingly, this switchover will at long last bring London up to speed with other major cities in the world. Paris, Melbourne, Tokyo and New York all have subway/ metro Wi-Fi connection on majority of their routes, and Seoul has had unlimited underground Wi-Fi for over 5 years!
As of now, it remains unknown which provider will actually fund the 4G switchover but Transport for London allegedly has plans with external funders as well as some major mobile network providers. Underground 4G connectivity is expected to roll out completely at some point next year.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.