BT to increase number of Wi-Fi hotspots to 1 million
BT plans to increase the number of WiFi hotspots two – fold that it has in the UK to about 1 million within the next 6 months as it looks to tap into the increase in demand for mobile internet.
BT has already gone past the 500,000 number, which is a landmark which took BT nearly 7 years to get past. However, with the number of customers wanting to access fast internet from their mobile phones increasing, the telcos is seeking to increase the stakes when creating new WiFi networks.
The actual revolution is the mobile phone, according to the wireless broadband director of BT Retail, Dave Hughes. People are OK with using their mobile phones to update their status on social networks or to check their emails, which isn’t the actual case with laptops.
He added that while 3G networks will have proper coverage for most users, there is an increasing demand for high speed broadband.
BT expects the massive increase in the size of their coverage to speed up the usage of their network. The extremely profitable WiFi division of Vodafone has doubled their traffic by a minimum of two – fold every year, Hughes added, and he also said that the network has the potential to further grow.
BT has hotspots in a number of public places by way of the Openzone network as well as in 12 city centres like the Westminister part of London which have public WiFi networks installed. The company has recently got a contract provide WiFi hotspots in all Starbucks coffee shops despite the competition from T-Mobile, which had clinched the contract previously.
They also operate a community – based WiFi services by way of the FON network and it is this segment of their business that most of the growth is set to occur. WiFi is functioning as a very integral retention tool for customers for their BT broadband business as the access to Openzone networks is also part of bundled minutes. Casual WiFi users can access their networks for 15 pence per minute.
Source - Times Online
