Covent Garden gains Wi-Fi coverage

Gym's access point ranges across piazza

By Tony Smith, 25th August 2004

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Notebook PC or PDA-equipped visitors to London's Covent Garden will now be able to access the Internet wirelessly through Broadreach Networks' ReadyToSurf service.

Coverage comes courtesy of a co-location deal with Jubilee Hall Clubs' gymnasium sited in the heart of the old market building in the centre of the Covent Garden piazza.

Broadreach installed a Wi-Fi access point for gym users, but its central location has the benefit of reaching out across the piazza, potentially out to the Opera House, Rock Garden café, the London Transport Museum and a wide range of other shops, bars and eateries.

Last November, Broadreach installations within the Leicester Square area created what the company claimed was the UK's first Wi-Fi 'hotzone'. Since then, public access hotzones have opened in Cardiff and Preston. Other London areas, such as Soho, are gaining Wi-Fi coverage - though in this case, it's not for public use - as are other cities, such as Bristol. ®

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