Vodafone is installing small antennas below street level to improve 4G mobile coverage for customers in metropolitan districts.
The operator is using a number of innovative ideas to expand and strengthen its coverage. It’s using housing mobile equipment within street furniture such as manhole covers, lamp-posts and phone boxes to increase the speed and extend the coverage of a mobile signal along busy roads, town squares and in shopping and entertainment areas.
Vodafone UK Chief Executive Nick Jeffery said: “We are committed to providing customers with the best network possible by drawing on our strengths in innovation and strong UK heritage. It is great to be able to use yesterday’s infrastructure – from phone boxes to manhole covers – to deliver the services of tomorrow. This is one of the ways we are extending our 4G services to areas other networks cannot reach, and getting ready for 5G.”
Vodafone says the manhole cover antennas can be installed with minimal disruption to local people – no street works or construction – and without changing the look of the area, as the kit is below ground. They are connected using Vodafone’s all fibre high speed converged network across the UK, which also supports other mobile technologies, home broadband, Internet of Things (IoT) and business services.
