Huawei offers to install free cell sites in London Underground

Chinese telecom major, Huawei has offered to install mobile phone transmitters in the London Underground for free for the 2012 Olympics.

According to The Sunday Times say, the telecom company is offering to put up the £50 million phone network free of cost as a gift from one Olympic nation to another.

The paper said that mobile network operators Vodafone and O2 have also agreed to carry out the installation work on no charge basis while Huawei would hope to earn revenues from maintenance fees.

The Transport for London and the mayor of London have been discussing the potential provision of mobile phone services on the deep Tube network  with mobile phone operators and other suppliers.

He added that given the financial burden on TfL's budgets, any solution would need to be funded through mobile operators with no cost to fare or taxpayers. He said the discussions were ongoing.

According to Conservative MP Patrick Mercer, an underground mobile network of the kind already installed in Hong Kong and Paris would be "extremely helpful" for emergency workers in the event of a terror attack.