Gadget Helpline has been following the ongoing developments with Transport for London’s plan for widespread Wi-Fi coverage at many of our capital’s Underground stations ahead of the 2012 Olympic Games, which will kick off on July 27th and come to a finish on August 12th, and with 500,000 plus visitors expected during those two weeks and today it’s been reported that 41 of these London tube stations now have active wireless internet.
Fellow tech site Recombu recently shared a handy map showing off all of the Underground Wi-Fi spots which are already hooked up to the Virgin Media provided the free service in this massive undertaking which will make sure all gadget packing spectators can stay socially savvy and in tuned into all the important info related to the biggest sporting event in the history of Great Britain on their smartphone or tablet.
The Wi-Fi unfortunately doesn’t extend to the tube trains themselves but presumably will be a logical evolution of the subterranean digital download service and probably something to be considered after the games are over.
This news comes just days after Mayor of London himself Boris Johnson gave the official word to lower a giant monument to the five Olympic Rings from Tower Bridge. Johnson said “We are as ready as any city has ever been at this stage in the Olympic process” and he adds with confidence – ”I think probably better.”
The London Underground recently launched Twitter accounts for many of its most used tube lines so that commuters can keep up to date with delays and maintenance via the social app on their mobile devices.
The Underground Stations currently providing Wi-Fi internet access are listed below:
Euston
Green Park
Kings Cross
St Pancras
Oxford Circus
Victoria
Warren Street
Chancery Lane
Marylebone
St James’s Park
Tower Hill
Barbican
Bermondsey
Borough
Hyde Park Corner
Southwark
Bayswater
Euston Square
Waterloo
Paddington
Westminster
Covent Garden
High Street Kensington
Leicester Square
Liverpool Street
Old Street
Bethnal Green
Brixton
Canada Water
Canary Wharf
Elephant & Castle
Goodge Street
Marble Arch
Regents Park
Holborn
Stratford
West Ham
Angel
Southfields
Heathrow T1-3
North Greenwich
Mile End
[spoiler]04 Jul 2012
100,000 passengers online underground in the first 4 weeks
Free travel information for all customers during the 2012 Games and after
One million Tweets, Facebook posts, emails and web pages delivered in one week
120 WiFi enabled stations by the end of the year
The new WiFi service on London’s Underground is now available at more than 40 Tube stations1, and is being used by over 100,000 Tube passengers. The service, which was launched four weeks ago by Virgin Media, was used to deliver one million Tweets, Facebook posts, emails and web pages in a single week2 as, for the first time, commuters are able to take advantage of the internet while underground.
Throughout the 2012 Games and beyond passengers will be able to check TfL travel pages for live journey information as well as Time Out, Spotify and MyMovies.Net for free from Tube platforms. The service is expected to be extended to 120 stations by the end of the year.
Kevin Baughan, Director of Metro Wireless at Virgin Media, said: “Londoners and visitors are loving our new WiFi service and we’re on track to connect Tube journeys right across London ahead of the Games. With millions of smartphones, gadgets and devices taken onto the Tube each day, the demand for data continues to grow and we’re rolling-out a future-proofed service that makes superfast wireless connections the standard. In partnership with TfL, we’ve achieved a huge amount and have launched a service London can be proud of.”
Gareth Powell, London Underground’s Director of Strategy and Service Development, said: “WiFi at Tube stations is proving extremely popular with our customers. Millions of commuters and visitors from around the world are now able to keep up with live travel updates, news and entertainment throughout an incredible summer and beyond.
“We look forward to continuing the roll-out and connecting up to 120 London Underground stations in 2012.”
The WiFi service is being delivered at no additional cost to fare or tax payers.
Virgin Media is offering free, full internet access throughout the summer. After the summer, the comprehensive WiFi portal with TfL travel information, updates and London news and entertainment will remain free for all Tube passengers. In addition Virgin Media is offering mobile operators, internet service providers and other service providers the opportunity to wholesale the service and make it freely available to their customers. Virgin Media broadband and mobile subscribers will continue to have free WiFi access and a PAYG service will ensure visitors and all Londoners can easily hop onto the internet.
To use the new free WiFi service, London Underground passengers simply need to connect to the service and register their email address. Hundreds of access points have been installed throughout the 41 stations, that are already WiFi enabled, providing passengers with great coverage from the ticket hall to the platforms. Each station is directly connected into Virgin Media’s next generation fibre backhaul network which has already enabled the superfast delivery of over one million online interactions in just seven days.[/spoiler]
Let us know your thoughts on our comments below or via our @Gadget_Helpline Twitter page or Official Facebook group.
Via: Recombu