Europe’s largest mobile wi-fi provider, The Cloud, has announced the successful launch of wi-fi services on the Glasgow Subway in partnership with Arqiva, the communications infrastructure and media services company. The service, which is the first of its kind in the UK, will provide connectivity in all 15 stations and on the subway platforms.
The Cloud will offer every commuter the first 15 minutes of wi-fi connectivity for free, to encourage awareness. Further minutes can be bought on a Pay as you Go basis. All O2 iPhone users can download The Cloud’s FastConnect application and register once anywhere on the Cloud network to receive free wi-fi on Glasgow Subway and thousands of other hotspots across the UK. The FastConnect application shows the user the nearest Cloud hotspot, and automatically connects them when they arrive.
“There are around 14m passenger journeys on the Glasgow Subway each year, explains Andy Norris, services director for Arqiva’s Government, Mobile & Enterprise business unit. “The widespread adoption of smartphones and other cellular hand held devices means that more and more consumers want an ‘always on’ experience from these devices. The addition of wi-fi to the existing 3G network demonstrates our ability to design and deploy communications infrastructure that can be used for more than one purpose. It also demonstrates our expertise in deploying communication networks in some challenging environments. From the onset of the project, we were aware that wi-fi was necessary to allow commuters to enjoy seamless connectivity at rush hour as well as quiet periods and The Cloud was the clear choice to help us achieve this goal.”
Plans are in place to offer advertising and brand placement across the online network, to attract more operators to the service and provide a selection of free, value added, location-based services, such as train timetables and updates on delays.