The days of poor-quality mobile and data coverage throughout Berlin’s U-Bahn network might soon be a thing of the past. O2 (Telefónica) has announced that its expansion of network coverage in the underground can be expected in March 2024.
Anyone who has tried to make a call on their mobile phone or send a WhatsApp message on some of Berlin's less-frequented U-Bahn lines knows the struggle: crackly calls and “failure to send” notifications. For passengers these horrors will be but a distant memory come March 2024, the date that O2 has announced for completing its expansion of mobile coverage throughout the U-Bahn network in Berlin.
While some U-Bahn lines in the German city are already well covered, namely the U1, U4, U5 and U8, disruptions to public transport have stopped the company from extending its mobile coverage on other lines. By 2024, O2 expects passengers travelling with the U2, U3, U6, U7 and U9 to have much better service, though still only 4G, also known as LTE.
Although it is already possible to get a 5G connection along some underground lines, widespread 5G service will have to wait a bit longer, though once the 4G network has been expanded this step should be easier.
So far there has been no discussion to expand the free WiFi services, which are available at all of Berlin’s U-Bahn stations, onto the trains themselves.
Thumb image credit: MosunoMedia / Shutterstock.com