Mobile working Toolkit

Thousands more Wi-Fi hot spots for UK

Graeme Wearden ZDNet.co.uk

Published: 08 Sep 2003 17:30 BST

The proliferation of wireless networks across the UK received another boost on Monday, with news that Wi-Fi operator The Cloud has secured access to 7,000 more hot spot sites.

The deal with NWP Spectrum -- which operates Internet terminals and payphones across Britain -- will bring Wi-Fi to more hotels, airports, railway stations, and shops. Rollout begins immediately, starting with places that have a "high footfall" such as Leicester Square in London.

As a wholesale Wi-Fi operator, The Cloud installs the necessary equipment to create a hot spot and then allows selected network operators -- such as BT Openzone -- to access its network.

Earlier this year, The Cloud signed a deal to operate Wi-Fi hot spots at thousands of Britain's pubs and bars. This agreement with NWP Spectrum gives The Cloud control of a wider selection of sites, which could encourage more users to embrace Wi-Fi.

"By extending our network into a wide variety of high traffic locations, this deal greatly increases the value of our neutral network to service providers and potential users," said George Polk, managing director of The Cloud.

"Our service providers will now have deeper network coverage, enabling them to sell branded Wi-Fi services to their customers," Polk added.

To date, The Cloud has more than 1,800 UK hot spots up and running.