Wi-Fi is going underground as half of the London Tube network gets a wireless Internet connection in time for the Olympics.BT Openzone allows customers of BT Fon and BT Total Broadband to use the Wi-Fi connection for free.
Wireless signals will be available on station platforms but not on the trains themselves — which is a start, but doesn’t strike as very useful if you’re on a lengthy commute.
The 120 stations will have Wi-Fi enabled by June 2012, in time for the London Olympics. Above ground, O2 is planning to offer free Wi-Fi to everyone, whether an O2 customer or not, while Virgin Media is reportedly planning a Wi-Fi network. tations including King’s Cross, Leicester Square, Oxford Circus and Stratford are due to come online in the next few weeks.
Virgin Media, which is operating the service in conjunction with Transport for London, claims speeds will be ‘comparable’ to the planned ‘4G’ mobile internet service, which will be fast enough to stream high-definition video from sources including the BBC iPlayer.
Passengers will be able to access emails and websites and stream videos while they are stood on platforms or escalators.