Telecoms giant BT has hit its target to provide wireless broadband access in 12 UK city centres.
Originally scheduled to go live March, five new Wireless City deployments went ahead this week in Sheffield, Nottingham, Portsmouth, Bristol, and Glasgow.
They join Birmingham, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Leeds, Liverpool, Cardiff and Westminster, which are already up and running.
'We are delighted that we have met our ambitious target early, but this is just the beginning, said Steve Andrews, BT chief of Mobility and Convergence.
'Other networks are already being built. Many local authorities are keen to pursue the real benefits to the council, businesses and citizens that a large wireless broadband network can bring.'
The programmes provide wire-free, high-speed broadband coverage for use in city centre locations.
Local authorities, businesses and citizens will benefit from wider availability of wireless broadband, says BT. For example, local authorities are working with the company to develop new mobile services for citizens, increase productivity for their own mobile workers and even provide information, such as available parking spaces and cinema listings.
'As more and more devices are enabled for Wi-Fi, including our own BT Fusion mobile service, the benefits to customers become clear,' said Andrews. 'A number of local authorities are already showing they can improve productivity for their mobile workers, like environmental health officers, who would be able to take action quickly and efficiently away from the office.'
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Further Reading:
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