The days of no phone conversations on the London Underground are coming to the end. From March 2020, Transport for London is carrying out a major pilot project to trial how 4G connectivity could work on the tube.

O2 is among the network operators that will be taking part in the trial. It will be powering 4G coverage on the Jubilee line between Westminster and Canning Town – helpful for customers on the way to The O2 Arena at North Greenwich.

Speaking about the announcement of O2’s involvement in the trial, Derek McManus, COO at O2 said: “This is a fantastic project for O2 to be a part of and shows our relentless commitment to providing our network to our customers, wherever they are. The pilot will allow us to continue working hand in hand with TfL, and other network operators, to bring connectivity to commuters across London.”

The 4G trial is part of a range of measures from Mayor of London Sadiq Khan to boost digital connectivity across the city. Currently there are 260 Wi-Fi enabled stations across the Underground and TfL rail services, but O2 describes the tube as a notorious ‘not-spot’ for mobile signal.

Though TfL is rather forward-thinking when it comes to technology - the network has been using contactless payment tech since 2012 and recently integrated Apple's Transit Express pay tech for faster mobile payments - the lack of mobile signal is an area where the network has been far behind other cities such as Beijing and Moscow, which have had the tech for years. Not for much longer, as the network operator will be installing hundreds of miles of cabling as part of the rollout to facilitate coverage in the tunnels.

And you don’t need to have an O2 contract to benefit from the connectivity, Vodafone is also onboard to provide 4G on the Jubilee Line. O2 says it is working in partnership with TfL and other mobile network operators to bring connectivity to customers across multiple networks, so smartphone owners can tweet, Instagram, chat and scroll in the tunnels of the Jubilee line.

Shashi Verma, Chief Technology Officer at TfL said: “It’s great that O2 have signed up to bring their 4G network to Jubilee line customers. The London Underground network is an incredibly challenging environment in which to deliver technological improvements, but we remain on course for customers to start benefiting from our pilot from March 2020.”

There’s a lot going on in the mobile space at the moment, mainly thanks to the launch of 5G earlier this year which is starting to spread out across the country. EE and Vodafone were the first operators to launch their 5G networks in May and July respectively, with O2 flicking the switch back in October.

An O2 spokesperson told the Standard: “We’re looking forward to even more of our customers having the opportunity to experience the benefits of 5G as we roll-out this technology further. O2’s 5G rollout will continue to reach customers, with a plan to reach twenty locations across the UK by the end of the year, and fifty in total by the end of 2020.”

Whilst 5G is exciting for the sheer advantage of being able to actually have an internet signal in Zone 1 there are a lot more benefits to come including cloud gaming, to improved virtual reality and artificial intelligence.