Lucky Londoners and of course tourists and visitors here ahead of the Olympic fun and games, O2 is offering free Wifi from today in some of the busiest parts of the capital.
We first heard about the deal coming to London earlier this year when it was described as “the largest free wireless hub in Europe”.
Landmark areas like Leicester Square, Piccadilly Circus and Exhibition Road as well as shopping streets will benefit from the free signal. This act of widespread access comes as the result of a deal between Westminster City Council, the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea and communications provider O2.
Don’t fret Londoners, the free Wifi appears at no cost to the council or the taxpayer and it will certainly help visitors get online without running up roaming charges on their mobile devices.
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No doubt that will be useful for lost tourists and sight seers looking to find their way and update about their adventures in the city.
O2 Wifi is free for everyone, regardless of network or broadband provider. Users need to register, but once that is done, customers are automatically connected whenever they enter an area with coverage.
The Mayor of London Boris Johnson said: “With millions of extra people coming to town for the Games, we want to ensure we showcase the capital as the best city in the world to work and visit, and the addition of free Wifi to some of our most popular landmarks is crucial in helping to maintaining that reputation.”
But it’s not all for the tourists of course. According to O2, a recent survey of Westminster residents revealed that 69% own a smartphone compared to 43% of the total UK population. So offering some free access will doubtless appeal to many resident Londoners too.
O2 along with other operators have been working to open up Wifi in many places across the UK. This kind of battle we like, the more companies work to provide free access, the more we get the freedom to connect that we might hope for.
O2 already provides free Wifi in McDonald’s, the Costa Coffee chain and Debenhams department stores.
Image Credit: Ewan Munro
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