UK cities go Wi-Fi

Nine UK cities, including London, Birmingham, Oxford and Liverpool, will soon be the first to offer widespread Wi-Fi to residents. Wireless broadband network Cloud has already created a number of wireless hotspots in the UK, but is planning to deploy widespread wireless broadband networks in UK cities by March 2006. According to the company, hundreds of Wi-Fi hotzones will be rolled out in UK city centres including Edinburgh, Leeds, Manchester, and Nottingham, with more cities to be announced throughout 2006. It is estimated around 4 million people will be able to access the hot-spots. The networks will be available to users of BT Openzone, O2, Skype Zones and Nintendo Wi-Fi, but The Cloud hopes that other service providers will want to join the party. George Polk, chief executive of The Cloud, said: "Providing ubiquitous wireless broadband access, over a network that is available to millions of Wi-Fi devices, and will be available to the new generation of WiFi phones, gaming devices, and other applications, will have a major impact on the way people communicate, work and play in city centres." Cloud