London Underground to get Wi-Fi at last
Tube stations around London are going to be Wi-Fi enabled in time for the 2012 London Olympics.
Transport for London (TfL) bosses confirmed that 120 underground stations would be getting Wi-Fi access, following a report by Mobile Marketing magazine.
There were concerns that the plans might be shelved after repeated delays. BT first tested Wi-Fi at Charing Cross back in November 2010, and up until the middle of last year it was expected to be on track for a late 2011 roll out.
However, the tender process had been delayed from the end of last year, with a chosen winner now not to be announced until Spring, the TfL said.
The Wi-Fi on offer will not be an on-train solution, as is being rolled out in some countries, but an ‘at-station’ option only. This means users will not be able to stream music or read articles online while in transit, and will only have access near ticket offices, stairwells and on train platforms.
There has been no announcement regarding pricing, which will be left up to the winner of the tendering process.
Mayor Boris Johnson has long been a strong advocate of Wi-Fi, soon after elected he announced ‘Project Wi-Fi’ which was to provide blanket free Wi-Fi coverage for the city – alongside tube coverage. It has since become vapourware.
However, Nokia and Virgin began their own trials of free city-wide municipal Wi-Fi last year.
