UK cableco Virgin Media is “actively exploring” the possibility of setting up a public WiFi network at sites across the UK.
This would effectively compete with incumbent BT’s Openzone service, which currently has two million hotspots.
A Virgin Media…
UK cableco Virgin Media is “actively exploring” the possibility of setting up a public WiFi network at sites across the UK.
This would effectively compete with incumbent BT’s Openzone service, which currently has two million hotspots.
A Virgin Media spokesperson said: “We are actively exploring opportunities around WiFi and speaking to a number of organisations, including local authorities.” But Virgin Media could not offer any further deals over how the planned network might be set up at this stage.
The roll-out would be a similar move to that of Cablevision in the US, which (in a partnership with TimeWarner) has rolled out WI-FI hotspots for the public in New York.
Virgin’s director of advanced technology, Kevin Baughan, told The Daily Telegraph: “We have been inspired by what Cablevision has been able to do in New York and are actively exploring the possibility of creating a similar network here.”
Baughan said that the network would be organised by putting broadband routers in secure locations and then connecting them to the network of kerbside “green boxes” it has around the UK.
In late October, Virgin Media announced that it would be rolling out the UK’s fastest broadband speeds (up to100Mb) on its cable network over the next two years. This would be accessible to over 12.7million customers, but would not be available everywhere in the UK.
Moreover, TelecomFinance reported on Monday that Virgin Media was not prepared to expand its high-speed broadband network into rural areas on the basis of government funding alone.
This was despite the government reportedly offering to provide £830m towards the roll-out of rural broadband.
