Freshwave and O2 Enhance Mobile Connectivity in Canterbury

O2 customers in Canterbury are set to benefit from improved mobile connectivity following the deployment of four 4G and 5G outdoor small cells across busy areas of the city. Freshwave delivered the deployment on behalf of O2 in partnership with Kent County Council.

The small cells have been installed in areas including Clocktower Square and the Whitefriars retail quarter. Attached to existing street assets such as lampposts, the compact units provide additional network capacity in busy locations, helping to reduce pressure on the wider mobile network and improve reliability and speeds.

The deployment has been enabled through an open access agreement between Freshwave and Kent County Council. The non-exclusive agreements allow local authorities to make council-owned street assets available to multiple mobile network operators, helping to accelerate the deployment of digital connectivity while retaining control of public infrastructure.

The Canterbury project forms part of a much wider programme. Freshwave has now signed more than 40 open access agreements with local authorities across the UK and has deployed more than 800 outdoor small cells on behalf of mobile network operators.

The approach is particularly suited to busy town and city centres where additional capacity is needed but larger infrastructure may be difficult to install due to planning requirements, conservation considerations or the character of the area. Similar small cell deployments have already taken place in locations including Bath and Westminster.

The Canterbury deployment highlights how collaboration between mobile operators, infrastructure providers and local authorities can support the expansion of 4G and 5G connectivity. With Freshwave already working under open access agreements with more than 40 local authorities, the model could support further mobile connectivity improvements in towns and cities across the UK.