It’s not quite as exciting as collaborating on space cellphones, but Vodafone and Orange’s deal to share mobile phone mast sites in the UK will probably have more day-to-day impact on users than NASA’s venture.  The two companies will still maintain separate networks and even use separate equipment, only they will both site it at the same mast rather than use different locations as has been the arrangement up until now.  According to Vodafone, the deal will lead to up to a 15-percent reduction in mast sites within the first two years, around 3,000 in total. 

The arrangement echoes a similar, but more in-depth collaboration between T-Mobile UK and 3 UK back in December 2007, where the two carriers agreed to combine their 3G access points so as to improve network coverage for both companies.  Vodafone and Orange, however, will remain independently responsible for the quality and maintenance of their own networks and equipment.