BT and BAI Deal to Support Mobile on London Underground

A new multi-million pound data centre deal has today been signed between BT and BAI Communications, which is designed to support last year’s (here) agreement with EE and Three UK to deploy 4G and 5G based mobile (mobile broadband) services across the London Underground by late 2024 (ticket halls, platforms and tunnels).

BAI currently holds a 20-year concession deal with TfL, which is enabling them to rollout the new “neutral host” mobile network for operators to access via wholesale. As part of this BAI are also deploying a new full fibre network to help connect the new mobile infrastructure, as well as to benefit local homes and businesses.

Today’s deal supports all of the above by enabling BTWholesale to provide BAI with “premium data centre space” in London, along with high-bandwidth connectivity, whilst using 100% renewable power for all sites. As part of the solution that BAI is building, all UK mobile operators will now be able to co-locate their equipment within these data centres, with BTW operating and managing these sites as a neutral party.

Alex Tempest, MD for BT Wholesale, said:

“Today’s deal is further evidence of BT’s commitment to boost the capital’s digital infrastructure – helping London maintain its status as a great place to live, work, and do business. We’re busy doing that through the expansion of the Openreach fibre and EE mobile networks, together with our leading wholesale capabilities.

We’re really proud to be playing a key role in enabling the delivery of this critical digital infrastructure project for BAI and look forward to our relationship building further from here.”

At the end of last year Vodafone said they also expected to sign-up to the new mobile network, which was due to occur this month, but we’re still waiting for that announcement to surface and the month is almost over. We also expect O2 (VMO2) to follow at some point, although they haven’t yet broadcast a solid expectation.