News / ‘Not spot’ roll out
MOBILE phone giant Vodafone has said trials connecting two Shetland communities later this summer could bring 3G mobile internet coverage to more ‘not spot’ parts of the isles.
Earlier this month Walls and Hamnavoe were shortlisted for trials to test a public version of the company’s femtocell technology.
It works on the same principle as Vodafone’s home signal booster Sure Signal, which can be plugged into a broadband router.
Vodafone has now shortlisted 20 communities from across the UK of which 12 will be chosen for the trials starting this summer. Another 20 communities, including Wormadale and Unst in Shetland have been put on a reserve list.
A company spokesman said: “For these trials to succeed, we need ‘not spot’ areas of no coverage but with power, broadband connectivity and suitable structures to locate the equipment on.
“The open femto team are now analysing the shortlisted communities in depth, including a visit to each community, to look at the technological and logistical challenges, and will select the 12 eventual trialists based on the results of their research.
“The final sites selected will also depend on securing co-operation at a local level. “It’s important to remember that the purpose of these trials is to road test open femto technology to bring it to a point where we could roll it out commercially to areas where there have been challenges to providing coverage in the past.
“Our ambition is that all communities, including those that are not actually selected for the trials, will have the opportunity to benefit from our development of open femto technology in the future.”
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