City of London turns on WiFi

Access will be available across a variety of platforms

350,000 city users will have access

Europe's most advanced outdoor WiFi network was switched on across the City of London on Monday.

More than 350,000 people who work in and visit the Square Mile area of the capital now have wireless broadband access.

'The Square Mile is a fast-moving, dynamic environment and we are responding to the increasing time pressures faced by City workers by providing the technology for them to stay up to date, wherever they are in the City,' said Michael Snyder, chairman of the City of London's policy committee.

Anyone with WiFi-enabled devices including laptops, PDAs, media players and smart phones can gain access to the network, built and operated by vendor The Cloud.

The Cloud's infrastructure is a multi-service provider platform, which allows providers such as ISPs, mobile operators, gaming,Voice Over Internet Protocol(VOiP) and broadband companies to offer wireless services to their customers.

Supported service providers include O2, BT Openzone, iPass, Truphone and Skype.

The City-wide WiFi network has been designed and built onto existing street furniture including lamp posts and street signs.

The network will offer 95 per cent coverage across areas owned by the City of London Corporation.