What's quite noticeable whenever I'm in Paris is that the 2G coverage in the Parisian metro is completely unable to bear the storm of smartphones and their hunger for Internet acceess. It could be argued that 2G coverage for voice and SMS, which still seem to work fine is better than nothing but there is a growing number of people that would probably say they'd prefer to have Internet access over voice and SMS in the metro. But relief is near. Telegeography recently reported that SFR will upgrade their network coverage in the metro with 3G and 4G signals. It shouldn't be too hard to do, the cabling is already prepared for it as I noticed back in 2009. What is strange about this report is that it only talks about SFR. What about the other network operators? Should SFR have negotiated an exclusive rollout? If so, I can already see millions of daily commuters switch to SFR.
2 thoughts on “3G For the Paris Metro”
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Bouygues should contract too.
Orange is still negotiating.
source: http://www.lesechos.fr/entreprises-secteurs/tech-medias/actu/0202179022258-bouygues-telecom-proposera-de-la-3g-dans-le-metro-345408.php
“It shouldn’t be too hard to do, the cabling is already prepared for it as I noticed back in 2009. What is strange about this report is that it only talks about SFR.”
For LTE, it depends on the frequency. I understand that some of the cable systems strung up in metros can’t accommodate 2600 MHz, which is why the underground LTE coverage in places like Hong Kong is at 1800 MHz.