London St Pancras International station announced it will be rolling out the "highest performance" Wi-Fi to ensure passengers can download movies in less than two minutes.
The HS1-owned company, the UK’s 13th busiest railway station, signed a deal with Wi-Fi provider WIFI Metropolis to improve the coverage of Wi-Fi across the domestic area of the station and international departures.
The upgrade will see WIFI Metropolis up the station’s internal fiber ring from 200Mbps to 1 Gbps by the end of this year, as it replaces existing Xirrus 24 single radio unit access points with 54 multi-radio access points.
The connection will allow 7,000 users to stream HD-quality movies simultaneously, which is 25 times the current capacity, in just two minutes.
Wendy Spinks, Commercial Director of HS1 Ltd, said: "With the latest figures showing that the number of people accessing the internet using a mobile phone has more than doubled between 2010 and 2013 – from 24% to 53% – now feels like the right time to install the service.
"Whether commuters are rushing to catch a train and want to download the latest film for their journey or find themselves in-between meetings with nowhere to work from, this new technology will completely change the way visitors can use their time in the station."
HS1 said the free Wi-Fi service would be funded through advertising and would be provided at its three other stations that service the Eurostar: Stratford, Ebbsfleet and Ashford.
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