Huawei offers free mobile phone network for London tube
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Chinese technology giant Huawei is offering to freely install a mobile phone network worth ￡50 million on the London Underground train system in time for the 2012 Olympics, a report said yesterday.
Huawei would install mobile transmitters along the ceilings of tunnels so that travelers can make and receive calls while underground for the first time, reported Britain's Sunday Times newspaper, without citing its sources.
Mobile operators including Vodafone and O2 have agreed to pay for the installation, while Huawei hopes to earn income in maintenance fees.
Transport for London (TfL), the official body responsible for the transport system in the British capital, said talks had started on fitting a mobile network on the underground but did not confirm Huawei's involvement.
"Transport for London and the Mayor of London are currently in discussion with mobile phone operators and other suppliers about the potential provision of mobile phone services on the deep Tube network,"said a spokesman.
But lawmaker Patrick Mercer, of Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservative party, told the Sunday Times that allowing a Chinese firm to provide the network could pose a security risk.
Huawei's technology is used to build mobile phone networks around the world and its consumer products include smart phones that run on Google's Android platform.
