19th July 2012

Last weeks disruption to both 2G and 3G reception on o2 networks has marked fears of widespread mobile network disruption in the capital throughout the games.

At the very least there are fears of dramatic slowdowns in connection speeds and now fresh fears that London’s cellular phone networks could experience total fall over during peak times resulting in those living near Olympic venues and spectators unable to make or receive telephone calls, send text messages or use the internet and mobile services.

Telecoms analysis Steven Hartley quoted in the Guardian newspaper as saying there could be problems in areas surrounding venues and other hotspots throughout the city including busy rail and underground stations, “”If people spill into a neighbouring site, they will be relying on Britain’s existing infrastructure, which is running on technology that has been surpassed regularly in the last few years – we don’t even have a 4G network, for example,” he said. “The risk is that the minute you start relying on legacy infrastructure, you’re in trouble. It’s a worry.”

Large public events such as music festivals and sporting attractions have caused telecoms networks in the local area to totally seize up causing texts to arrive 24 hours late or making it impossible to make telephone calls.

Recent surgency in smartphone use, especially since the last Olypmic games will mean more and more people will be using 3G networks to upload videos and photographs, taking large amounts of bandwidth with them.

WIFI is a cheaper and faster alternative to 3G networks, and will be available at more than half a million hotspots throughout the capital provided by BT, it is hoped that these connections will eliaviate some of the misery for visitors and natives alike.