The UK's first 3G and Wi-Fi network on an underground transport network has arrived for Glasgow Subway – with The Cloud and Arqiva partnering to bring connectivity to the commute.
Although the wait remains for London's Tube to be given network coverage, Glasgow's Subway has now been connected up – with the first service of its kind in the UK.
"There are around 14 million passenger journeys on the Glasgow Subway each year," explained Andy Norris, Services Director for Arqiva's Government, Mobile & Enterprise business unit.
Widespread adoption
"The widespread adoption of smartphones and other cellular hand held devices means that more and more consumers want an 'always on' experience from these devices," he added.
"The addition of Wi-Fi to the existing 3G network demonstrates our ability to design and deploy communications infrastructure that can be used for more than one purpose.
"It also demonstrates our expertise in deploying communication networks in some challenging environments.
"From the onset of the project, we were aware that Wi-Fi was necessary to allow commuters to enjoy seamless connectivity at rush hour as well as quiet periods and The Cloud was the clear choice to help us achieve this goal."
All 15 stations and subway platforms are covered by the partnership's effort, but although The Cloud is offering the first 15 minutes of Wi-Fi free to all – further minutes will need to be bought on PAYG.
