Commuters in Scotland will be able to use their mobile phones underground for the first time by Christmas, it has emerged.
The Glasgow underground network will become the first place in the UK where mobile users can operate their phones underground, thanks to a deal communications giant O2 signed with transmission company Arqiva.
Users will be able to receive and pick up calls from other people, as well as download data streams or video content.
Chief technology officer Derek McManus said: “This new technology will enable customers to make calls, send and receive text messages and access a host of data services while on the subway platform. This is the first time that any mobile phone network in the UK has implemented a service like this and O2 is delighted to be giving its customers the first chance to communicate on the underground.”
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O2 has developed the service using a “multi-user distributed antenna system” which enables texting and calling while on the station platforms.
The scheme will go live this December in five of the Glasgow’s busiest underground stations. If successful the trial could be extended across the whole of the city and eventually find its way to the London Underground.
