Vodafone UK and Ericsson are rolling out mini base stations to improve 4G capacity in urban areas of the UK, starting in London.

Vodafone said the small radio units are half the size and weight of standard equipment and offer three times the capacity.  The units are designed to be carried up stairs to a rooftop for installation, rather than needing a crane that typically blocks traffic, according to the operator.

The first mini base station has been installed in Southwark, London, and there are plans to roll out the system across the capital and in other urban areas.

Vodafone has a network sharing agreement with rival operator O2 in the country, and a Vodafone spokesperson told Mobile World Live that the two companies will work together with the kit in the areas where Vodafone builds the joint infrastructure.

Vodafone has been criticsed for the quality of its 4G service in the UK, where EE is the market leader.

Vodafone said it is also exploring the deployment of antennas and small cells to ensure long-term capacity requirements are met and wants 30-year old planning laws to be updated for less obstruction to gaining access to key sites in the UK.

EE also recently said access to certain sites can be difficult and wants the government to regulate how much landlords can charge for building on their land so they don’t take “ransom rents”.

Vodafone UK’s CTO Jorge Fernandes said the operator wants to engage with local councils and the government “to look at ways of reducing red tape around site planning for mobile mast installations.”

The base stations can also support the latest mobile technology such as so-called 4G+. Under its 4G+ roll-out, Vodafone is combining up to three mobile spectrum bands (carrier aggregation) to provide customers in high density areas with faster data speeds and improved voice quality both outdoors and indoors.

Vodafone and Ericsson are also working on faster versions of carrier aggregation.

Following recent trials of three-way carrier aggregation on sites in London, which combine Vodafone’s 800MHz, 1.8GHz and 2.6GHz spectrum, download speeds were achieved of up to 240Mb/s, Vodafone said.

The trial sites are now ready to deliver download speeds of up to 700Mbp/s to meet future mobile data growth.