Pakistan Mobile Zone: Nokia Rolls Out Free Wi-Fi in London

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Nokia Rolls Out Free Wi-Fi in London

Nokia Rolls Out Free Wi-Fi in London

Nokia and Spectrum Interactive announced this morning that they started rolling out free Wi-Fi access in Central London. There are 26 hotspots so far that will let anyone with a tablet, laptop, or phone get online for free. The hotspots are located in phone boxes.

User access is unrestricted, but they will be required to agree to terms and conditions. No personal details are needed to register.

Each hotspot is capable of 20Mbps, but no users will get more than 1Mbps download and 0.5Mbps upload. This ensures the network does not get overloaded. Anyone within 50-100 metres should be able to get online.

Internet access is initially available from today (1 November) until the end of 2011. The trial will check users’ browsing behavior and demand or the service. If the trial is successful, Nokia and Spectrum Interactive plan for a large-scale rollout across London from early 2012. The full service would involve using many more of its 1,000 sites in London. Nokia did not say how much the project would cost.

The 26 hotspots can be found in the following locations:

Oxford St, Tottenham Court Road, Bloomsbury, South Kensington, Knightsbridge, Mayfair, Lancaster Gate, Bayswater, Westminster, Sloane Square, Victoria, Marylebone

To publicize the service further, Nokia and Windows Phone smartphone users will be able to find hotspot locations using its Maps application. Nokia hopes this trial will connect people even more easily than ever before.

This would have been really useful for me last week since I did not have a working SIM card when I arrived in London for Nokia World. On the other hand, it wasn’t hard to find free Wi-Fi in London. Starbucks and other businesses let their customers use Wi-Fi without extra charge.

Nokia Rolls Out Free Wi-Fi in London