New mobile ‘mini-masts’ have been installed by EE on street furniture like lampposts and phone boxes in Yorkshire to help boost mobile coverage in the busiest areas of the city.
The mini antennas, known as small cells, are now delivering enhanced 4G capacity in high demand areas of the region. The extra antennas mean that customers can take advantage of download speeds of up to 300Mbps, even at the busiest of times.
Small cells take advantage of existing street assets, such as BT’s iconic red telephone boxes, to help enhance street-level mobile coverage in busy areas where it’s impractical to build larger masts, such as city-centres and transport hubs.
As well as being located on phone boxes, lamp posts and CCTV columns, EE has installed small cells on BT’s innovative new digital Street Hubs, further maximising the benefit of these assets to communities.
In Yorkshire, EE has worked with partners including Nokia to deploy small cells to boost capacity in busy locations including Sheffield Hallam University, The Moor and York city centre.
James Hope, Director of Mobile Radio Access Networks, EE:
“As demand for data continues to rise, small cells are becoming an increasingly integral part of our mobile network. Our partnership with Nokia ensures customers continue to benefit from our fastest 4G speeds even at the busiest times and in the most congested of locations, and we’re proud to pass another milestone in this project as we continue to invest in improving the UK’s best mobile network* up and down the country.”
EE’s continued network investment will see more small cells deployed in the coming months, both in existing and new towns and cities. EE is also trialling the extension of small cells to accommodate its 5G network, with Nokia’s AirScale portfolio able to seamlessly upgrade to 5G.
