Transport for London (TfL) and Virgin Media have announced the first 80 stations that will receive free Wi-Fi in time for this summer’s Olympic Games.
Virgin Media won the contract to supply the service in March and it will become a Pay As You Go service to non-subscribers of Virgin’s mobile and broadband services.
“Bringing a next generation Wi-Fi service to one of the world’s oldest underground transport networks is progressing as planned and the forthcoming service is testing well,” said Gareth Powell, London Underground’s director of strategy and service development. “The first stations include some of our busiest and most well-known destinations and we’re on-track for a successful launch this summer – all delivered at no additional cost to fare payers or tax payers.”
Virgin is continuing to test the service at a number of stations and recently completed capacity testing at Chancery Lane where hundreds of devices were connected at exactly the same time to the station’s Wi-Fi connection to simulate demand. The Wi-Fi network can be used on platforms but not on trains themselves, but at least passengers will have something to do during the expected transport chaos during the Olympics.
“In partnership with TfL, we’ve been working around-the-clock to install and test Wi-Fi on London Underground and are about to connect some iconic and world famous Tube stations with a Wi-Fi service London will be proud of,” said Jon James, executive director of broadband at Virgin Media.
Virgin Media would not reveal an exact launch date for the service to TechWeekEurope, but reiterated that it would be ready in time for London 2012.
The Cloud has won a separate contract to provide Wi-Fi connections at all 56 stations on the London Overground network. Commuters will receive 60 minutes of free Wi-Fi a day and unlike the London Underground service, it will remain free after the Olympics.
The full list of stations:
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