Vodafone Expand 3G Mobile Open Sure Signal to First Scottish Village

Vodafone has announced that their Rural Open Sure Signal (ROSS100) technology, which makes use of fixed line broadband connections in order to boost local outdoor 3G mobile signals (femtocell), has been expanded to reach its first community in Scotland – Tarbert on the Isle of Harris.

The new service is currently aiming to cater for a total of 100 communities (here and here) and is cheaper to roll-out than building expensive new masts. A number of deployments have already taken place, which is despite the occasional problem with a lack of food fixed line connectivity (here) that has caused some upgrades to be postponed.

Jorge Fernandes, Vodafone UK Chief Technology Officer, said:

“I am delighted that Tarbert has joined our Rural Open Sure Signal programme. Mobile connectivity is an essential service for communities and businesses to thrive in today’s digital world and support local economies. As part of the Rural Open Sure Signal programme, we are committed to investing in our network to provide access even in remote locations where it is otherwise almost impossible to reach.

The number of calls and data sessions the unit is supporting every day, on an island where there was marginal coverage previously, shows the significant benefit the technology is making to members of the community. I am excited to see the transformation for Tarbert and other communities which have been successful for this pioneering programme.”

Apparently the ROS100 unit in Tarbert is already handling an average of 235 mobile calls and supporting 10,000 data sessions a day. Meanwhile Vodafone are still aiming to deploy to new sites at a rate of one or two a week until March 2016.