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From today, you can use your mobile on the underground

O2 from December 1st have enabled mobile connectivity on the underground tube system in Glasgow, Scotland.

That’s right, you can’t even hide on the tube anymore. Anyone, anywhere can now find you and see if you’re unhappy with your long distance calls or whether Scania can come and fit a chair lift for you – despite the fact you live in a bungalow.

Marking this auspicious occasion, eight O2 ‘Angels’ are wandering around Glasgow giving away 2000 tickets for the tube system. This presumably is for people to really try and test out this new addition to their portfolio, although there’s no mention if they’re targeting their own customers. We assume they would be, seeing as it’s no real worth to anyone else unless they give them free O2 mobiles too.

It’s been noted that 2G and 3G services are available, SMS, MMS and even video calling. And also internet browsing is possible. Hurrah!

Coincidentally this marks the start of the busiest shopping month of the year, in apparently the second largest retail commerce state outside of London.

If this pressure will be anything to go by, perhaps this could all be a trial run for the London underground on a normal working week. If this all works to plan, we could hopefully see this in the big smoke sometime soon. Who knows, only O2 does.

We‘ve come up with an alternative though to all this.

Why not just flood the London underground system with WIFI, have someone come up with a lite VoIP client that will work on all WIFI phones and that’s that.

Well, it’s food for thought anyway. Eh, Skype *cough*

8 COMMENTS

  1. To begin with – the subway (the name given to Glasgow's underground system) will have coverage only in the major stations: Buchanan Street, St Enoch, Hillhead, Partick and Govan.

    BBC News reports: “Coverage will initially be limited to stations and platforms, but it could be extended through the tunnels if there is enough interest from customers.”

    This is in contrast with many major subway systems around the world that already have coverage in most locations. For example, whilst I travelled in Copenhagen's Metro I had full coverage for the whole length of the system. Maybe it is time that we caught up in the UK!

  2. Fully operational mobile service in Kuala Lumpur's metro system. It makes London Underground seem so backward.

    I know there are all these weirdos who don't want mobile phones to work on the Underground but I think we should move with the times. I love the idea of all these people looking for peace and quiet, supposedly, on the Victoria line between Oxford Circus and Kings Cross or wherever.

  3. Fully operational mobile service in Kuala Lumpur's metro system. It makes London Underground seem so backward.

    I know there are all these weirdos who don't want mobile phones to work on the Underground but I think we should move with the times. I love the idea of all these people looking for peace and quiet, supposedly, on the Victoria line between Oxford Circus and Kings Cross or wherever.

  4. Fully operational mobile service in Kuala Lumpur's metro system. It makes London Underground seem so backward.

    I know there are all these weirdos who don't want mobile phones to work on the Underground but I think we should move with the times. I love the idea of all these people looking for peace and quiet, supposedly, on the Victoria line between Oxford Circus and Kings Cross or wherever.

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