Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Media has been selected to provide wifi internet services at London Underground stations from this summer.
The service will be available at 80 stations from July, ahead of the London 2012 Olympic Games, with “up to 120 Tube stations” being enabled by the end of the year. Wifi will be available in stations and on platforms, but not within tunnels.
The agreement will see wifi internet access initially being provided for free for an as-yet-undetermined period, before being made available “as part of Virgin Media’s broadband and mobile subscriptions”.
Access will also be made available “via pay-as-you-go and other commercial models”, and a free online portal will provide up to date travel information.
A statement said that “The cost of providing wifi at stations is covered by the commercial contract that has been awarded to Virgin Media”, meaning that the service will be provided “at zero cost to the fare or taxpayer”.
For more information visit tfl.gov.uk, virginmedia.com.
Report by Mark Caswell
