Responsible network planning

During the year we continued to add capacity to our 3G network and to establish the High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) protocol, which enables higher data transfer speeds and capacity.

Our strategy is to roll out our 3G network in areas where there is most demand, providing coverage - including within buildings - to those areas.

By the end of 2007 we had rolled out to over 75 per cent of population but we were called to account by the regulator OFCOM for not reaching the 80 per cent level demanded under the terms of our licence on time. We have now rectified this with the addition of 100 new cell sites and are committed to increasing our 3G coverage.

Meanwhile, the resilience of our networks, combined with products capable of handling new data applications - such as the O2 Xda II handheld computer - is influencing the way mobile workers exchange information.

MediHome Patient Care
Patient care at home is a growing trend within both the public and private sectors. Evidence indicates that patients at home recover faster, thanks to the preferable diet, more sleep and familiar surroundings. MediHome provides high-quality, short-term nursing care for patients in their own homes following acute hospital admission. However, one crucial element had previously been impossible: the ability to share real-time patient data between nurses with the patient and doctors in the hospital.

O2 was able to demonstrate to MediHome that our network was completely reliable with an initial trial of five Xda Exec devices. MediHome settled on the proposed solution using MACIC (Mobile Autonomous Clinical Information Capture) from Evaware, O2’s UK wide network, and O2 Xda Exec devices.