WiFi network covers London

Today, an outdoor WiFi network was switched on across the entire City of London – the famous Square Mile.

More than 350,000 people who work in and visit the area now have wireless broadband access throughout the City. The network has been built and is operated by The Cloud, a wireless broadband provider.

Free access for the first month will be provided in association with Nokia, allowing anyone with a WiFi-enabled device to get online in the City.

Twelve months of development and testing have enabled The Cloud and the City of London Corporation to deploy what's claimed to be Europe’s densest, most comprehensive city-wide WiFi network. The Cloud will continue to tune the network over the coming weeks as new users, applications and devices begin to use the service.

The network’s capabilities have been made possible with  mobile broadband mesh technology supplied by BelAir Networks. The network currently comprises 127 nodes and will evolve to offer 95% coverage across areas owned by the City of London Corporation.

The City-wide WiFi network has been designed and built onto existing street furniture including lamp posts and street signs and allows anyone with WiFi-enabled devices including laptops, PDAs, media players and smart phones such as the new generation of Nokia devices to take their broadband with them!