The entire London Underground will have full 4G coverage by the end of 2024

London Underground 4g Installation
London Underground 4g Installation (Image credit: TfL)

What you need to know

  • Full 4G coverage is coming to the London Underground before the end of 2024.
  • The system will be ready for 5G as well.

Those frequenting the London Underground will be able to enjoy full 4G coverage by the end of 2024, it has been announced. This comes after a successful pilot saw the Jubillee line gain 2G, 3G, and 4G mobile services.

Announced via a Transport for London press release, the news sees local mayor Sadiq Khan fulfill a promise to give commuters 4G connectivity throughout the Tube network.

I promised Londoners that if they re-elected me for a second term as Mayor I would deliver 4G throughout the Tube network. It's already up and running on the eastern half of the Jubilee line and I'm delighted to announced today that I am fulfilling that commitment and full internet access will be available across the Tube, with key central London stations such as Oxford Circus and Euston set to benefit before the end of next year

Alongside giving travelers access to 4G connectivity, the fiber being installed into the London Underground will also be used to connect buildings as well, providing high-speed internet access where it previously might not have been available.

London's Tube tunnels will also be used to provide full fibre connectivity across the city, which can then be connected to buildings and street assets like street lighting and bus stops.

The new system will be 5G-ready when cellular carriers are ready and five million passengers per day are expected to benefit from the move to bring fast data connections to underground travel. Anyone carrying an iPhone 12 or newer will be able to enjoy 5G speeds when the system is ready for it, too.

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Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too.

Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.