Press Release | 25 Jan 2017

NORFOLK PUB BECOMES THE FIRST COMMUNITY HUB TO GET MOBILE COVERAGE ON VODAFONE’S NEW RURAL PROGRAMME

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.”

Read more

See press release archive

About Vodafone UK

Vodafone UK is a technology communications company that connects people, businesses and devices to help our customers benefit from digital innovation. Our services span mobile, fixed-line connections, home and office broadband, and the Internet of Things (IoT).

We have a strong track record as a tech pioneer, making the UK’s first mobile phone call, sending the first text message, and making the UK’s first live holographic call using 5G in 2018. We were the first to start carrying live 5G traffic from a site in Salford, Greater Manchester and now have 5G in locations across Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain as well as the UK. Meanwhile, our 4G network coverage currently reaches over 99% of the UK population.

Today, Vodafone serves more than 18 million mobile and fixed-line customers in the UK. Vodafone is the largest provider of full fibre in the UK – our superfast broadband services are now available to nearly 12 million homes across the UK.

Sustainability is also at the heart of what we do: as of 1 July 2021, 100% of the grid electricity we use in the UK is certified to be from renewable sources.

For more information about Vodafone UK, please visit: www.vodafone.co.uk.

Vodafone UK Media Relations

Telephone: +44 (0) 1635 693 693

Email: ukmediarelations@vodafone.com

Twitter: @VodafoneUKNews

Website: https://vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/

Vodafone Limited

Registered Office: Vodafone House, The Connection, Newbury, Berkshire RG14 2FN

Registered in England No: 1471587