Highways Agency - Safe roads, Reliable journeys, Informed travellers

Mobile - Frequently Asked Questions

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• Mobile

Why have we launched a mobile site?
Travel has become such an important part of our day to day life that we need to ensure the services we provide are available in a way you can access them quickly, wherever you are.

Phone manufacturers are increasingly providing handsets that are capable of accessing the internet and playing audio, so the technology is also paving the way for this change. The costs for being online are now falling so it has become more attractive and affordable to connect to the internet from mobile handsets.

This all means that you can check what the road conditions are, or view our latest news 24 hours a day, seven days a week, when you need it most.

Why can't I access everything from your full website on the mobile site?
Most mobile handsets don't operate like PCs, and mobiles are simply unable to manage the large amounts of data that make up your average website, the results is that most standard websites simply won't appear correctly (if at all) on mobile screens.

The solution is to provide an alternative version of our website that is compatible with all the major mobile browsers, which is what we've done.

So what information is on the mobile site?
The way we use mobiles is different to how we access information from a PC. Not everything on the main HA website is appropriate for mobile use, because of the nature of the information and because of the way in which we access information when on the move.

We've included all of our key information services that will help customers with their journeys. Information that is frequently updated such as traffic, roadworks, news, weather and vacancies are included, but information about our environmental or safety work isn't. What does it look like? Pages on the mobile site are structured and behave in the same way as a normal website, with a logo in the header, a footer, main navigation menu and so on. The main difference is in the amount of information on the pages, with much less text and very few images to make it easier to navigate around the site and speed up download times.

How can I access the HA mobile service?
You need to have a mobile handset which has access to the internet. Then type in our address www.highways.gov.uk/mobile Please note that most mobiles will automatically redirect you to our mobile address even if you type in our main web address www.highways.gov.uk

Are there any costs for using the service?
The Highways Agency does not charge users for its mobile service. However, you may be charged for accessing the internet from you network service provider and these charges vary depending on your contract. Some mobile providers charge by the amount of data downloaded or for the time actually spent online. Many now provide internet access for a small fee as part of a monthly or annual price plan. You should check how you are being charged with your mobile network provider.

I can't access Traffic Radio
Traffic Radio is a streaming audio service which many phones don't support. We are using streaming audio simply because of the nature of information being provided, which is constantly changing throughout the day. Developments are planned throughout 2010 to extend this service so as many mobile users as possible can access it.