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London Tube Stations Finally Get Wi-Fi

Posted by samzenpus on from the expanding-the-net dept.

judgecorp writes "After trials, Wi-Fi in the London Underground has gone live in two stations (Warren Street and King's Cross), with plans to fit 80 stations out before the Olympics, which are now only a few weeks away. From the article: '“Our new Wi-Fi service is a fantastic deal for Londoners, with live travel updates, entertainment and news freely available to everyone while they are on the move across the capital,” said Gareth Powell, London Underground’s director of strategy and service development. “Wi-Fi at Tube stations will help us improve the journeys of the millions of people that use the Underground everyday at no cost to fare or tax payers.”'"

6 of 140 comments (clear)

  1. Wait a moment... by multiben · · Score: 1, Insightful

    "Wi-Fi at Tube stations will help us improve the journeys of the millions of people that use the Underground everyday at no cost to fare or tax payers".

    So it was paid for by fairies?

    1. Re:Wait a moment... by ljw1004 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Presumably paid for through advertising, i.e. by consumers.

    2. Re:Wait a moment... by isorox · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Presumably paid for through advertising, i.e. by consumers.

      Once the olympics are over, you'll be charged. The contract would state Virgin have to wire up the stations, and provide free wifi for the plympics, but then get 5 years of ripping off passengers

      That said, I don't see the market. It's only at the platform, which on the whole is a sub-5 minute wait even at 11pm - at least in the centre where there's no phone signals. By the time you get to the platform, get your phone out, log on to the wifi, type your credit card number in, type in the capcha, accept the terms and condtions, and provide your phone number and email, your train will be there.

  2. ah, the free lunch by catmistake · · Score: 2, Insightful

    at no cost to fare or tax payers

    How?

    Virgin Media won the contract to supply Wi-Fi to the Underground earlier this year

    How were they paid?

    It will be free until after the Olympics have concluded, but customers of Virgin Media and other selected networks will continue to get it free afterwards. Others will be able to use the service on a pay-as-you-go basis.

    I don't get it. This can't be right. The contract isn't free, Virgin doesn't supply services for free... yet apparently, no one is paying for it except "others" after the Olympics.

    --
    The Admin and the Engineer
  3. Sounds virtually useless ... by MacTO · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The article makes it sound that they are offering free access to a limited range of online services. It is only the "Internet" in the sense that these services are delivered over the Internet, but it is not the Internet in the sense that it only provides access to services approved by the service provider. Those services are in all likelihood revenue generating subsidiaries of Virgin, services paying Virgin for the privilege of being accessible on the subway platforms, or contractual obligations between Virgin and and the transit authority. In otherwords, it's utility as anything other than a propaganda machine is limited.

    On top of that, they are only offering platform service. Now I don't know about London's tubes, but every heavy and light rail public transit system that I've seen runs trains at 2 minute intervals (peak hours) to 15 minute intervals (at an hour that you wouldn't want to pull out a gadget). You may be able to pull down a transit schedule and maybe a couple of articles to read on the train, but not much else. Train arrival times will probably be posted on the platform anyhow and the only devices usable on platforms are cell phones and tablets. The former is a terrible reading device for anything more than plain text, the latter is an okay reading device but awkward to handle on a busy platform. People who want that type of service would be better served by their cell phone's data plan anyhow since chances are that it's unfiltered and may work on the platforms anyhow. (I can't speak for London's system, but Toronto and Vancouver have decent cell reception on the platforms).

    In other words, big freaking deal. Let me know when they offer real internet service and service that can be access in the place where you're spending most of your time: on the train.

  4. Re:Oystercard: transfer of costs to the passenger by Rakshasa-sensei · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It is funny that the GP seems to think London Transport company is charging higher paper ticket prices to get their hands on his unused Oyster card money, rather than the actual higher cost of handling physical money and paper tickets in non-centralized locations. As the proportion of physical paper tickets falls the unit cost of the service increases.