The Wortwell Bell Inn in Harleston, South Norfolk, is first community hub to get Vodafone’s 3G mobile coverage on its Community Indoor Sure Signal programme
- Bell Inn in Harleston, South Norfolk now receives reliable Vodafone 3G mobile coverage
- First community hub to go live in Vodafone’s Community Indoor Sure Signal programme
The Wortwell Bell Inn, on the outskirts of Harleston in South Norfolk, is the first community hub to receive indoor 3G coverage under Vodafone’s Community Indoor Sure Signal (CISS) programme. Vodafone has installed an innovative mini-mast inside the pub bringing much wanted mobile voice and data capability to staff and customers.
Reliable indoor coverage can be difficult to achieve in certain buildings, including older properties with thick walls or those located in extreme rural and remote areas. The CISS programme is focused on bringing Vodafone indoor coverage to 100 community hubs, such as pubs, village halls and community centres, across the country.
The femtocell technology used in CISS is similar to that deployed by Vodafone in its successful Rural Open Sure Signal (ROSS) programme, which brought 3G coverage to 84 rural not-spots across the country including 12 across Norfolk. The units – about the size of a standard domestic broadband router – provide 3G mobile coverage throughout a building when connected to an existing broadband line.
Jorge Fernandes, Vodafone UK Chief Technology Officer, said: “Community hubs, like pubs and village halls, across the UK play an important part in rural life and supporting the local economy. We want to ensure all our customers can enjoy the benefits of mobile connectivity wherever they are but appreciate there are some communities which will take longer to get to using traditional methods. We remain committed to innovative programmes, like ROSS and CISS, which help bring coverage to communities who need it.”
Chris Shore, landlord of The Wortwell Bell added: “The Vodafone Sure Signal unit is benefitting both our customers and our business. As keeping in touch is so important to everyone these days, having a reliable 3G signal is fantastic for our village pub.”
