British troops get free Wi-Fi
Kablenet.com
Published: 09 Oct 2007 14:54 BST
British soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan will get free access to wireless web services from barracks.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has announced that British troops on service in Iraq and Afghanistan will have a free wireless internet connection for the first time.
The new service will enable them to surf the web and contact home without leaving their living accommodation.
Work to install the wireless access is due for completion by Easter 2008. The development is part of the defence ministry's Project Mercury programme, and will follow the installation of telephones and computers with internet access, which is due for completion in December 2007.
A spokesperson for the MoD told GC News on 9 October, 2007: "We have hard wired computers and there is currently a ratio of one to 70 or so troops.
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"Project Mercury will take the ratio to one to 50, but the wireless network will bring the ratio to about one to 25."
Defence secretary Des Brown said that it will make it easier for armed forces staff to stay in touch with their families and friends in Britain.
"This improvement to the internet access for our troops adds to the excellent Operational Welfare package available to all those deployed on operations, which includes the provision of TVs, DVD players, radios and 30 minutes of free phone calls per week to anywhere in the world," Brown said.
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