Bulgaria's three mobile phone operators and the Sofia Metropolitan company are putting off the launch of all-out mobile and Wi-Fi access on the subway in the Bulgarian capital for the spring of 2013, MobileBulgaria reported.

At the launch of the second line of the Sofia Metro in August 2012, the head of the municipally-owned company Sofia Metropolitan, Stoyan Bratoev, said that the mobile networks will cover all stations of the subway by the end of 2012.

Bulgaria's three mobile phone operators – Mtel, Globul, and Vivacom – are planning to use a joint subway transmitter, with a foreign company already having been assigned the task of its construction, according to the report of MobileBulgaria.

The report cites telegeography.com as saying that Mtel, Globul, and Vivacom will be able to launch the network access along the entire subway system in Sofia in March 2013, and that their partnership will allow them to save money.

Vivacom has told MobileBulgaria that the construction of the subway network transmitter is going as planned but that delays are being caused by the fact that construction permits are yet to be issued. Globul has said it has no comment on the matter, while Mtel had not responded yet.