Edinburgh's mobile phone network receives a boost ahead of influx of festival visitors

EE strengthens mobile capacity in Edinburgh

New mobile ‘mini-masts’ have been installed by EE on street furniture like lamp-posts and phone boxes in Edinburgh to help boost mobile coverage in the busiest areas of the city.

The Scottish capital is the UK’s second most popular tourist destination after London, and the mobile mast installations come as the city prepares for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. During August, it’s estimated that the population of the city doubles, as more than 500,000 people visit for the festivals.

The mini antennas, known as small cells, are now delivering enhanced 4G capacity in high demand areas of the city. 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.

One of the new mobile phone masts, at Forrest Street in Edinburgh.

In Edinburgh, EE has worked with partners including Edinburgh Council and Nokia to deploy small cells to boost capacity in busy locations including the Royal Mile, University of Edinburgh, Princes Street, Chambers Street and the National Museum, and the West End.

Responding to the news, Shona McCarthy, chief executive of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, said: “Visitors to the festival are increasingly using their smartphones for electronic ticketing, searching programme listings, booking tickets on the go, and navigating to the various venues. Many of these are things visitors will be able to do from the new official EdFringe app. People are also keen to share their experiences with friends and family and social media throughout the festival.

“All of this depends on having good access to mobile networks. It's vital therefore that the city's mobile networks can cope with this significant increase in demand during the summer. We welcome any steps like these new mini mobile masts to help boost network capacity in these busy locations.”

As well as being located on phone boxes, lamp-posts and CCTV columns, EE can also install small cells on BT’s new digital Street Hubs.

There is a new phone mast in this old phone box on St Andrew Square in Edinburgh.

James Hope, director of mobile radio access networks at EE, said: “Edinburgh is a prime example of a city that can benefit from these small cell masts. The city is said to be built on seven hills and has plenty of old buildings, all of which pose a challenge to mobile coverage. It also sees huge peaks in mobile traffic in confined areas during major events. Small cells help customers continue to benefit from our fastest 4G speeds, even at the busiest times and in the most congested of locations.

“Our new digital Street Hubs also have the potential to help increase the number of small cells in the city. We’ll continue to discuss our plans with the council and we hope that Edinburgh will join other cities, such as Glasgow and Birmingham, where our new Street Hubs are already providing communities with the digital facilities needed for the future.”

There are 14 mini masts already live in Edinburgh, with four more sites to go live by the end of July. EE plans to deploy more small cell sites throughout the city in areas where it forecasts network congestion.