13 October 2022

Three UK has partnered with Freshwave on the operator’s first deployments of the Neutral Host In-Building mobile specification. Following two successful pilot tests at offices in London, the approach has been selected by Three UK to augment its 4G indoor connectivity.

Some 80% of mobile phone calls originate from indoors, but modern building materials make it more difficult for the outdoor macro signal to penetrate inside. As a result, many buildings harbour mobile signal dead zones which can reduce productivity and increase frustration. Accordingly, in-building small cell systems bring network indoors with guaranteed quality of service, without placing extra pressure on the outdoor macro.

A standard for in-building radio solutions, the Joint Operator Technical Specifications (JOTS) Neutral Host In-Building, has recently been established in collaboration between all four of the UK’s mobile network operators. It specifies the technical standard use of 4G small cell technologies to simplify the provision of indoor mobile coverage for businesses. By adhering to the JOTS NHIB specification, a third party, or ‘neutral host’ can provide mobile services to businesses on behalf of one or more of the operators. The neutral host can enable this connectivity using their own choice of vendors and equipment.

“Indoor focus has been a major priority of ours with the acquisition of additional low frequency spectrum in 2020 and our agreement with Freshwave will further enhance indoor coverage, particularly for business customers,” said Iain Milligan, chief network officer at Three UK.

“This is another step forward in making assured indoor mobile connectivity easier for businesses to access around the UK and we’re pleased to have worked with Three UK on this world-leading approach,” said Tom Bennett, CTO at Freshwave. “We’re excited that Three UK is now also using the specification and that Freshwave is the first company to be the neutral host for multiple operators on the NHIB specification.”