02 provides Glasgow subway stations with network coverage

The rollout of a new antenna system has given O2 the opportunity now to provide stations in Glasgow with GSM and 3G network coverage.

The announcement was made recently that O2 will be the first of the mobile network providers to make use of the distributed antenna system that will soon be rolled out into the stations. The company installing the antenna systems is Arqiva and it usually fits them in areas where a large number of users require coverage within buildings like shopping malls or similar locations.

The deployment of these antennas will result in the first of its kind to offer mobile coverage underground in the UK, according to a spokesperson for O2. The busiest five stations in Glasgow will be fitted out when the system goes live in December this year and they are Kelvinbridge, Buchanan Street, Partick, St Enoch, and Hillhead giving all the locations both 3G coverage and GSM. Although passageways and ticket regions of the station will gain coverage the train tunnels themselves will not.

A spokesperson for O2 stated: “There is a strong possibility that, at some point in the future, we will extend the service to cover the complete loop of the Glasgow underground.” The spokesperson also mentioned that there would be a little coverage in the train tunnels as coverage would “bleed into” them but could not advise on how much there would actually be.

A quote from Derek McManus said that the rollout would allow customers to “continue conversations on underground platforms or… text friends to say that they’ll be arriving in five minutes”.

Deployment of the system also involves the Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) and follows on from 02 backing Glasgow in their successful bid for the hosting of the 2014 Commonwealth games.