Vodafone UK Trial 700Mbps Mini Base-Stations to Boost 4G in London

A joint roll-out of Vodafone and Ericsson’s new portable mini base-station radio units (Ericsson Radio System), which are about half the size and weight of a standard radio unit that would usually need to be craned up a building, is being used to boost 4G mobile signals and data speeds around London.

Apparently the new kit also offers three times the capacity of Vodafone’s traditional hardware (largely thanks to its support for three-way Carrier Aggregation via LTE-Advanced technology) and, as well as being easier to deploy on rooftops in urban areas, they’re also more energy efficient.

The first trial until has already been installed in the Southwark area of London and Vodafone will soon begin “rolling out the new system across the capital and in other urban areas“. The 3-way Carrier Aggregation also allows the operator to combine slices of their 800MHz, 1.8GHz and 2.6GHz spectrum in order to deliver shared download speeds of up to 240Mbps (this will soon rise to 700Mbps).

Jorge Fernandes, Vodafone UK’s CTO, said:

“We continue to look at new and innovative ways of providing improved mobile coverage in order to meet our customers’ soaring demand for mobile data and video while minimising disruption to the general public and improving the aesthetics of the surrounding area.”

We are delighted to be partnering with Ericsson, one of our key network suppliers, on this project and look forward to further engaging with local councils and Government to look at ways of reducing red tape around site planning for mobile mast installations.”

The operator is also exploring the deployment of new antennas and small cells in order to further improve their network coverage and capacity.