#mobilephonetechnology

[mobilephonetechnology]

[2026-06-14 image ©ofcom] The Met Police are asking tech firms to make stolen phones harder to reuse. If the phone is closed then to get into the phone the thief would need a fingerprint, or facial image or a passcode. which does make the phone hard to get in and steal your data; however if they steal the phone when in use and are quick they have full access to your data - which is not good.

But does a phone stolen in the Uk have any real value? each phone has within it an IMEI number, the equipment number, which is unique to the phone and cannot be changed or cloned. Once the phone theft is reported to the netwokr this IMEI number will be blacklisted making the phone unusable on a UK network. The UK network also shared their IMEI database with many other counties including Europe, US, Canada but not China. Your stolen phone may find it's way to China.

The other option is that the phone is broken up for parts with the electronics worth quite a lot these days.

The Met has been in contact with Apple, Google and Samsung to tighten up on any loose ends regarding the device. Recent figures seem to say that the number of stolen phone connected to the network has reducted in recent months and the Met wants to get this number down much lower. This may be a hard nut to crack if these phones are being illegally shipped to China.

[mobilephonetechnology]

[2026-06-14 image ©Mayor of London] Boldyn have been hard at work installing 4G / 5G throughout the underground section of the London Tube. By the end of 2026 this work should be complete meaning that pasengers should have mobile coverage throughout the tube system; the overground areas are already covered with the 'normal' masts in the area.

Boldyn is installing a neural network and has agreements with the 3 UK mobile operators to share the network. This seems a great model that maybe should be used through out the UK.

In addition to the usual mobile network the Boldyn network hosts the Emergency Services Network making communications underground for the emergency services much better than previously.

[mobilephonetechnology]

[2026-06-07 Image ©The British Travel Magazine] WiFi on British trains is notoriously poor. The way it works is that there is a router, usually one per carriage, that delivers the WiFi to passengers and relays the signals through the mobile phone network. The system relies on a good mobile signal up and down the rail lines. Whilst the signal is fine in built up areas, and so the WiFi is good, in the fields that the train rushes through there is little to no houses and so little to no mobile signal.

The focus for the mobile operators is in providing mobile signal in areas of population, covering some 98% of the UK population, but the geographic coverage is much lower 81% from all 4 operators. The missing locations are unpopulated rural areas, just those that train speed through. This 81% figure is the figure for some coverage, and not any service level. A more than minimal level of service is needed for trains. A high speed train travelling at 100mph has a much more degraded signal than a person standing still at the same location.

But hope is on the way. Currently the backhaul, the mobile signal back to the core, uses regular phone masts. It would take a major investment to get the required number of masts to enable good WiFi on trains, although this would have added benefits to the rural community. UKG, having nationalised the trains in the Uk, are investing in providing satellite connections from the coach. This should improve the backhaul from the train. Much technical work does need to be done to ensure that this technology works the way it is envisaged. A fixed satellite link on a stationary caravn is one thing, a satellite link on a train moving at 100mph is another.

[mobilephonetechnology]

[2026-05-31 image ©InfoBip] As of now Samsung have deleted their Samsung messages App on Android and encouraged their users to use Google Messages, or indeed any other messaging system. Google messages is primarily based on RCS messaging and whilst it has a number of other features over the simple SMS messaging, it is end to end encrypted. RCS will revert to SMS if for whatever reason, usually a lack of signal, RCS cannot work.

At the same time Apple is making changes to it's messaging system and rolling out RCS within it's infrastructure.

Perhaps more interesting RCS messages can be send from Apple to Android and vice versa. Previously Apple kept a fence around their messaging system and if a message was destined to Android it was sent as SMS.

Just a note the SMS is not going away it will still be used for many purposed most notably for companies to send messages to customers or the NHS to send appointment details to patients etc.

[mobilephonetechnology]

[2026-05-24 image ©BT] A U-turn by BT has brought back the BTMobile brand. It was killed off and all customers moved to EE. Now it is back for BT customers. A BT customer can purchase from BT a new BT Mobile connection on a pay monthly plan.

A year or so back BT decided to market all their customer facing products as EE, but recently there has been a U-turn and BT will still be used for customer products and the BT-Mobile product has been re-introduced for current BT broadband customers. One reason for the change of mind could be that the BT brand has a high recognition within the UK and the link between BT and EE not as well understood. When BT broadband customers are looking for a mobile contract, as many may be with the landline switch off, a BT brand will be more familiar to them. Indeed if a customer does not see the BT - EE link they could just choose a mobile brand for the many out there.

Currently BT-Mobile os only open to BT broadband customers but they could widen the net soon. Although they will be competing with themselves [BT vs EE]

[mobilephonetechnology]

[2026-05-24 image ©TFL] Not surprisingly Boldyn Networks have been chosen to provide a mobile broadband network across the London Underground. The provision will allow emergency responders to keep in touch in any emergency situation throughout the London Tube, DLR and Overground where the stations and lines are underground. Overground stations and lines have connectivity as would the surrounding area.

Boldyn have been partnering with London Underground to provide small cells throughout the underground to allow staff and passengers to be connected through out their journey. They have agreements with the mobile operators for the use of their cells.

[mobilephonetechnology]

[2026-05-24 image ©vodafone] On a similar note to the previous post, Vodafone have introduced a 5G home router for £20 per month on a 24 month contract. The contract has a limit of 150Mbps which is fast enough for most of us. Great for Netflix, emails web but maybe not for high intensity games. It is alos worth noting that Three offer a similar product and indeed have been pushing this as the way to get broadband to the home for a number of years now. Looks a good deal.

[mobilephonetechnology]

[2026-05-17 image ©WifFHire] I keep getting adverts for WiFiHire who will rent out a WiFi router (travel sized) which uses an eSIM card to connect to the mobile network for unlimited data - a great idea.

But, the cost seems to be £21 for 3 days, and up to £100 for a month. As many have pointed out in the comments, you can purchase a 4G / 5G router on Ebay for less than £30 [some much less] and an unlimited SIM from one of the mobile operators for less than £25pcm. Or even just hotspot with your phone.

Whilst I would wish them well, they may struggle with these prices.