Virgin Media CEO confirms plans for free London WiFi - Neil Berkett in 'advanced conversations' with borough councils on rolling out metro WiFi network.
Virgin Media chief executive Neil Berkett has confirmed that the broadband, TV and mobile provider plans to deploy a free-to-use metro WiFi network in London.
"There are very few things I take a punt on as a business person – it's probably one of them," he said during Virgin Media's recent investor presentation.
Berkett said the company is in "advanced conversations" with a number of London borough councils over rolling out a public WiFi network. Plans are still in the early stages, but Berkett said one proposition being considered would take the form of free wireless Internet access to all consumers at connection speeds of half a megabit per second, while Virgin Media's customers would be able to access the network at speeds of up to 10 Mbps.
Berkett is optimistic that the London-wide WiFi network will start rolling out "in the not-too-distant future".
"We may consider speaking to one of the MNOs about wholesaling that as an activity," he added.
The move is part of the company's aim to make better use of its broadband infrastructure, which Berkett said is under-utilised during the day when most of its customers are out of the home.
He admitted that the deployment of a free metro WiFi network won't be much of a cash-flow contributor to Virgin Media, but insisted the move is in line with the company's ethos of investing in the advancement of peoples' digital lifestyle.
"I'm quite excited about it," said Berkett. "It's a few million pounds... but I think it is a real opportunity if you think about the gap that is increasingly occurring between consumers' need for data outside the home and what they can get on 3G."
The move ramps up competition with incumbent telco BT, which has been aggressively building out its Openzone WiFi hotspots. The company offers a range of different ways to pay for access to its 2.8 million hotspots, such as per-minute charging, and a £5 monthly subscription.
Meanwhile O2 already offers free public WiFi access to its U.K. customers via its partnership with WiFi operator The Cloud, which was acquired by BSkyB back in January.
Sources : http://www.totaltele.com/view.aspx?ID=466757
