Wi-Fi providers target train travellers

Going loco

By Tony Smith • Get more from this author

Posted in Mobile, 21st January 2004 15:38 GMT

Free webcast: Service level monitoring and management

BT Openzone today said it will roll out Wi-Fi hotspots at 15 railway stations in the UK.

The announcement comes a day after fellow mobile Internet access provider Broadreach said it will be offering to put Wi-Fi on British rolling stock, courtesy of a tie-in with Canadian railway Wi-Fi specialist PointShot.

Openzone's roll-out will bring hotspots to London stations Euston, Liverpool Street, Waterloo, Victoria, Fenchurch Street, Paddington, Cannon Street and Charing Cross, along with Birmingham New Street, Leeds City, Manchester Piccadilly, Liverpool Lime Street and Edinburgh Waverley, by the Spring.

Come Summer and it will have added access points at London Bridge and Glasgow Central.

It will have some competition. Broadreach is already in Euston and Paddington thanks to partnerships with coffee shops, and Swisscom has a number of access points around Paddington. Openzone already has hotspots at other UK stations, including Ipswich, Norwich and Belfast Central Station.

Broadreach, which offers net access under its ReadyToSurf brand, this week signed up to offer PointShot's RailPoint on-train Wi-Fi technology to UK rail providers. RailPoint has already been used in the US to provide wireless Internet on the Altamont Commuter Express in California.

No takers have yet been announced, though Broadreach already has a deal with Virgin to roll-out Wi-Fi access on trains running between London and the Midlands. ®