Plans for 2012 Underground mobile access hit buffers

Dream on, say network providers

Mobile phone services on London's Underground will not be possible before the 2012 Olympic Games, according to UK operators.

However, they still hope to install the infrastructure at a later date.

"We have been working closely with infrastructure partners and London Underground (LU) for some time with the hope of delivering mobile services to the LU, and are disappointed that it will not be possible to deliver such services in time for next year's Olympic games," said Vodafone, O2, Everything Everywhere and Three.

"As a group, we will continue to positively explore all other avenues available to us in order to provide a service at a later date."

Pitched as a gift from a previous host nation, Chinese telecoms provider Huawei had offered to provide a mobile network free of charge to Transport for London (TfL).

Huawei's involvement did not have any impact on the decision to stall the plans, according to the Financial Times.

TfL has also recently put out a tender to enable Wi-Fi access at up to 120 tube stations before the Olympic Games.

The winning contract for this will be decided by the end of 2011.