British and French mobile operators are poised to strike a deal that would provide mobile phone coverage in the Channel Tunnel in time for the 2012 Olympics.

The consortium of operators – including O2, Vodafone, 3 and Orange – are understood to be splitting the £20 million cost of installing the technology along the entire 31.4 mile length of the tunnel.

Alcatel-Lucent, the French telecoms infrastructure company, has been contracted to install the technology, reports The Telegraph.

Ofcom, the UK telecoms regulator, confirmed that it is preparing to issue spectrum licences to allow French and British operators to share airwaves inside the tunnel.

UK operators will – Vodafone, O2, Everything Everywhere and 3 – will split the installation costs along the Dover to Calais tunnel. Meanwhile their French counterparts – Orange, SFR and Bouygues – will share the costs along the Calais to Dover tunnel.

Vodafone is believed to be spearheading the Channel Tunnel project on the British side of the Channel.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, is also aiming to bring 2G and 3G coverage to the London Underground in time for the 2012 Olympics. The technology is already available on the Paris metro.

Mobile operators have agreed to collectively invest £150m to provide mobile coverage on most of the capital’s Tube tunnels. Thales is the leading bidder to install the technology, which is likely to be managed by Huawei, a Chinese telecoms company. Passengers will be able to make voice calls and browse the internet over the 3G network.

World Mobi

In the build up to the 2012 Olympics, World Mobi has launched its new guide to the capital.

London.Mobi is the latest in this illustrious line up of city guides, with over 800 cities in 200 countries listed. Each is developed by the World Mobi team to combine into a single global travel directory.

The guide offers click to call functionality – which means no scribbling down telephone numbers.

Most entries are also linked to websites where users can quickly access more detailed information if needed.

Other key features include information on accommodation, restaurants, attractions, entertainment, nightlife, shopping, and transport.

World.Mobi guides include user reviews and traveller utilities such as a translation guide, currency converter, news and local weather guide.

(Miss World contenders found city.mobi invaluable at Fifa 2010 in Johanessburg)

City.mobi comes into its own during mega sporting events such as the Olympics and the World Cup. During the South Africa World Cup, city.mobi provided detailed information about accommodation, attractions, dining, city guides, and transport information tailored for users on the go, and includes host cities, including Durban (durban.city.mobi ), Port Elizabeth (portelizabeth.city.mobi ), Bloemfontein (bloemfontein.mobi, Johannesburg (joburg.city.mobi ), Pretoria (pretoria.mobi ), Nelspruit (nelspruit.city.mobi ),
Polokwane (polokwane.city.mobi ), and Rustenburg (rustenburg.city.mobi ).