Your Web News in One Place

Help Webnuz

Referal links:

Sign up for GreenGeeks web hosting
August 4, 2011 12:12 am EDT

Virgin Media to roll out free WiFi in London, bums with iPads rejoice

Fancy some free municipal WiFi, London? Yeah, we know, the service has been promised several times before, but that's not stopping Virgin Media from giving it the ol' college try. In his address to investors, CEO Neil Berkett announced plans to piggyback the gratis service on its existing cable backhaul "in the not too distant future," shoring up the gap left by operators' unreliable 3G coverage. Seems the media conglomerate's cable network runs mostly idle during the day -- a fact revealed during last week's earnings call -- and with only four percent market share, Virgin could certainly handle the extra traffic. The move is a straight shot at BT's similar, albeit partially free offering, and would provide download speeds of 0.5Mbps to the general public, with the truly blazing 10Mbps reserved for the company's own internet subscribers. But don't expect this business extension to break Virgin's bank, costing only a "few million pounds," this free-of-charge WiFi network's just a drop in its two tonne bucket. All that's left is a few permissive nods from the city's councils and you Londoners can keep up with the latest TOWIE drama wherever you go.

Virgin Media to roll out free WiFi in London, bums with iPads rejoice originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Aug 2011 20:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | sourceThe Telegraph ||Comments

Original Link: http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/03/virgin-media-to-roll-out-free-wifi-in-london-bums-with-ipads-re/

Share this article:    Share on Facebook
View Full Article

Engadget

Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics. Engadget was launched in March of 2004 in partnership with the Weblogs, Inc. Network (WI

More About this Source Visit Engadget