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London to get city-wide Wi-Fi network in time for the Olympics in 2012

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The Olympic games coming to your city is a good motivation to upgrade the place – London’s mayor Boris Johnson agrees. He promises that before the 2012 Olympics begin, London will be one huge Wi-Fi hotspot…



Tim Berners-Lee invented the Internet and he was born in London – which is all the motivation Mr. Johnson needs to get all paternal over the Internet. His plan – attach a Wi-Fi hotspot on every lamppost and every bus stop. The project is called, wait for it, Wi-Fi London.

Now, access to the Wi-Fi networks won’t be free – unlike the town of Swindon, which aims to become the first UK city to offer its residents free Internet over a Wi-Fi network covering the whole town. Pricing details for Wi-Fi London are still to be announced.

London’s mayor is also very excited about the Cycle Hire Scheme, which will allow Londoners to pick up a bike from one of many docking stations. The Scheme will come with an iPhone app, which won’t use Internet access, and will show you a map with the docking stations.

Anyway, project Wi-Fi London should be complete before the streets of the UK capital are flooded with people who have come to watch the Olympic games.

I know not every city can be like Mountain View or London (or Swindon apparently), but if more cities go with city-wide Wi-Fi networks, what would happen to 4G network adoption – how will the two networks co-exist?

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