The Hindu : National : Mobile phones will work on the Metro

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Dec 20, 2004

National

National

Mobile phones will work on the Metro

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, DEC. 19. The underground section of the Delhi Metro inaugurated today by the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, will be mobile friendly. Mobile networks generally do not cover underground subways and tunnels and to overcome this problem, the Delhi Metro's sub-contractor, Himachal Exicom, installed underground communications system for the first time in the country.

The system uses point of interconnect (PoI) equipment to combine signals from all four GSM operators — MTNL, Bharti, Hutch and Idea — and uses optical fibre repeater technology to distribute the signals to various stations and tunnels. Leaky co-axial cable is used for tunnel coverage and passive distribution system to cover platforms and subways. Thus, if you are travelling on the Metro, whether you are in the station or on the train, you are always connected to the GSM mobile network.

Himachal Exicom is also installing another system for CDMA operators — MTNL, Reliance and Tata — which will enable CDMA (WLL) subscribers to use their phones while on the Metro. The CDMA system combines signals from their BTS installed at each station using PoI equipment and uses leaky co-axial cable for tunnel coverage and passive distribution system for platform and subway coverage.

Both systems will provide coverage in 900 Mhz and 1800 Mhz bands. Precautions have been taken to ensure that no interference takes place between two systems installed close to each other.

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