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EE said on 2 September 2025 that nearly 50 additional outdoor small-cell sites had gone live across the City of London. The sites are intended to add 4G and 5G capacity in busy areas, alongside 35 earlier Freshwave-delivered EE sites. A further 34 sites were being built when the announcement was made.
This is a capacity expansion for specific high-footfall streets, not a promise of identical speeds or uninterrupted signal throughout the Square Mile. The published announcement does not include a street-by-street map, site coordinates or independent before-and-after speed tests.
What EE announced
Freshwave’s dated announcement describes nearly 50 new outdoor small-cell sites serving EE in the City of London. They supplement 35 sites previously delivered for EE. The same announcement said 34 more sites were in build at that time, so these figures should be read as the project status reported in September 2025, not as a confirmed live-site total today.
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Outbyte PC Repair FREERepair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →| Figure | What it represents | Qualification |
|---|---|---|
| Nearly 50 | Additional outdoor sites live for EE | Freshwave announcement, 2 September 2025 |
| 35 | Earlier Freshwave-delivered EE sites | Reported in the same announcement |
| 34 | Sites in build | Status at announcement time, not a current total |
| 125 TB per week | Average data downloaded across all Freshwave-deployed EE sites in the City | Freshwave-reported aggregate; not a speed test or a measurement of only the new sites |
Where the new cells are located
Freshwave names high-footfall areas outside St Paul’s Cathedral, the Old Bailey and Guildhall, around the Barbican, and along Fleet Street. No public street-by-street coverage map or list of coordinates was included, so the announcement cannot establish whether a particular building, pavement or handset is covered.
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What an outdoor small cell does
A small cell is a compact mobile-radio site installed closer to users than a conventional macro tower. In a dense district, it can handle some traffic that would otherwise be served by a larger site, adding targeted capacity where many people are using phones. EE and Freshwave describe the City work as a way to improve 4G and 5G service in busy locations.
That rationale does not guarantee a specific download speed, indoor reception or continuous service for every device. Actual performance still depends on the handset, frequency band, building materials, network load and the user’s precise location.
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How the City deployment is designed
Street furniture instead of a new tower
Street-level equipment can be attached to existing infrastructure such as lampposts, digital street hubs, red telephone kiosks and other street furniture. This lets operators add radio capacity in constrained urban locations without relying only on larger macro sites.
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EE’s earlier Queen Victoria Street pilot, described in a 2022 announcement, used centralised radio-access equipment, cabinets for multiple telecoms components and dark fibre built by Netomnia. EE said that network was designed to host all four UK mobile operators on 4G and 5G from day one; EE was the first and only operator live on it at that time.
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Freshwave says the newer design is intended to accommodate multiple operators as well. “Capable of hosting” is not the same as “currently used by every operator”: the 2025 announcement does not confirm that all four networks are live on the nearly 50 added sites.
Why the City needs more mobile infrastructure
The City of London Corporation’s revised proposed-submission City Plan 2040 identifies mobile connectivity in and around buildings as critical to the Square Mile. It says 5G rollout will require additional, suitably located cells and asks developers to consider in-building solutions where signal is poor.
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- STANDARD SMA MALE CONNECTOR — Features an SMA male plug with a center pin. It is not RP-SMA and will not fit devices with a different connector. Check the connector photo and your device manual before ordering.
- FOLDABLE, POSITIONABLE DESIGN — The hinged antenna can be positioned for compact desktop, enclosure or field installations. Repositioning the antenna may help reduce obstruction, but results depend on local network coverage and placement.
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- VERIFY BEFORE PURCHASE — Confirm the device frequency range, standard SMA connector and available clearance. Antenna performance varies with frequency band, cable loss, enclosure, mounting position, terrain and distance from the cellular tower.
That policy context explains why street-level and indoor systems matter in a dense commercial district, but it does not show that the plan caused or approved any particular Freshwave site. Outdoor cells also should not be treated as a substitute for an indoor distributed-antenna or other in-building system.
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What this means for residents, visitors and businesses
- Busy streets: The main expected benefit is more network capacity in concentrated demand areas such as Fleet Street and the named civic and cultural locations.
- 4G and 5G users: Compatible devices may connect to the added radio layer when conditions and network configuration allow.
- Indoor users: Outdoor small cells do not establish universal indoor improvement. Offices and other buildings may still need their own in-building solution.
- Other networks: Shared-network capability does not prove that every UK operator is active on every later site.
Do you need a new phone to benefit?
Nothing in the City deployment announcement says that customers must buy a new handset. EE’s April 2026 guidance says access to its 5G+ service requires a compatible phone or other device, SIM and plan. Whether a particular customer sees 5G therefore depends on those requirements as well as local radio conditions; the deployment itself is not a handset-upgrade requirement.
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What has not been independently established
- No independent before-and-after speed measurements for the nearly 50 added sites were published in the cited material.
- The 125 TB weekly figure is an operator-wide aggregate across Freshwave-deployed EE sites, not a test of the new cells.
- There is no detailed public site map in the announcement.
- The evidence does not establish universal signal improvement, guaranteed indoor coverage or participation by all operators on the later sites.
The practical takeaway
EE’s September 2025 project adds a substantial layer of targeted outdoor capacity in parts of the City of London, building on an earlier small-cell network and a design intended to support multiple operators. It is best understood as a high-density capacity and resilience measure for specific streets—not as proof that every location in the City now has the same 4G or 5G performance.
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