Passengers travelling Berlin’s U-Bahn network can now use high-speed internet while they are on the train, not just on station platforms.
Thanks to over 1.000 kilometres of fibre optic cables, the four million passengers who travel on U-Bahn trains in Berlin every day can now get a high-speed internet or mobile phone connection below the city.
Passengers who have a phone contract with O2 Telefónica, Deutsche Telekom or Vodafone will be able to connect to the mobile network, whether they are on a station platform or going through a tunnel.
After five years of laying cables and installing 360 tunnel antennas, the 4G / LTE network was made available to passengers on May 7, making it the most widespread indoor communications project in Germany to date.
While Berlin’s U-Bahn stations are kitted out with free WiFi and passengers travelling the network’s tunnels can now get online with the newly available 4G service, a network-wide WiFi connection is yet to come.
However, in a press statement, the spokesperson for the BVG, the local transport association in Berlin, Henrik Falk assured that with a service connection now available across the network, onboard, free WiFi was not far off.
“[T]he comprehensive, high-speed mobile network is an important step for an even more attractive and modern mobility opportunity. The efficient 4G network means that we will be able to offer free WiFi on our U-Bahn trains in the future.”
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