A new free wifi network around London's West End has been launched, initially covering Oxford Street, Regent Street, Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square, Piccadilly Circus and Parliament Square. Soon it well stretch to other areas of Westminster and Covent Garden: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-18969551
A deal between Westminster City Council and O2 has made this possible...
Lovely for Londoners... but would you like to see this across the country?
I might sound a bit paranoid, but free wifi networks need to be quite convincing before I'm prepared to trust them to do anything sensitive. So if I'm at Piccadilly Circus and want to find the nearest cash machine, then a quick browse and Google maps might be just the ticket, especially if it's free. But I wouldn't feel comfortable about using such a network to login to online banking, say to check a balance first.
Still, I'd like to see this trialled somewhere away from central London: if the business model relies only on there being a mad crush of people within the free wifi area, then we aren't likely to see it anywhere else, e.g. in a location where perhaps it would be giving people more choice (or indeed, a choice) to get online on the move.
Judith
As someone who struggles to use Netflix on a Friday night (rural location), I'd just like to be able to get a (consistent) internet connection wirelessly or otherwise!
Quite! There are times of the day when I can't even watch a YouTube video. I also know at least one local family who can't get broadband at all - and we live in the London commuter belt!
Much as I would like to be able to access free wifi wherever I happen to be, I can't help feeling that our priority should be access to broadband, with a decent speed, for all UK homes and businesses.