Reuters reports that McDonalds announced today they will offer free wireless Internet access across its 1,200-strong restaurants in the UK. That is expected to make McDonalds the largest provider of (free) broadband access in the country. McDonald’s will be using network provider The Cloud to supply its free WiFi service.
There are around 11,477 Wi-Fi hotspots in the UK. Major service providers include The Cloud (a private venture), British Telecom (with OpenZone) and Deutsche Telecom (with T-Mobile Hotspots).
McDonald’s service will account for about 10 percent of the total Wi-Fi hotspots, according to Reuters.
On Thursday, Britain’s top fixed-line carrier BT Group said it had teamed up with FON, an inexpensive grass-roots network of shared hotspots. FON offers routers that enable people to “securely” share their high-speed connections with strangers; in return, the sharers get access to any other FON access point in the world.
The deal promises to give BT’s 3 million Broadband customers access at no additional charge to FON’s network of roughly 190,000 Wi-fi access points. “We have built a public Wi-Fi network and 12 Wireless Cities already, but today we are saying to customers, let’s build a Wi-Fi community together, which covers everywhere and serves everyone,” said Gavin Patterson, BT Group managing director.
The move gives the UK telecom company a quick jump in its public access Wi-Fi coverage at a minimal cost.
Meanwhile, AT&T in the United States provides WiFi access through McDonalds restaurants, with the help of Wayport. AT&T’s WiFi service generally costs between $20-$30/month, bundling some packages with their cellular data network, but this summer AT&T announced that its DSL customers can receive WiFi access free. Their network includes nearly 10,000 hot spots including those at McDonalds, airports, Barnes & Noble, coffee shops and popular sporting venues.
Competitor T-Mobile offers nationwide WiFi access inside Starbucks coffee shops. T-Mobile’s WiFi service plans cost $20-$40/month.
In other news, Burger King will promote wireless games developed by Seattle’s Mobliss through their in-restaurant signage and packaging, reports RCR News. The titles are slated to launch next spring and will be downloadable via text message. Last year, Burger King promoted Microsoft’s Xbox 360 games for $4 with the purchase of a value meal last year and sold 2 million copies.
Pipex has unveiled plans to roll out its WiMax service across the UK. The ISP’s Freedom4 service, is part of a joint venture with Intel.
Carrier-sponsored WiFi networks — like those of T-Mobile, AT&T, and BT — are getting pressure from low cost, city-wide municipal WiFi networks. Soon nation-wide WiMAX networks will be available from Clearwire and Sprint’s XOHM, adding yet another form of wireless public access to the mix. Norway, Sweden, and the U.K. will be the first European markets to auction the 2.6 GHz spectrum for mobile WiMAX.
Related DailyWireless stories include; AT&T: Free WiFi with DSL, McSignage, Boingo Goes Flat Rate, Hotspots are Hot, Skype on The Cloud, UK Unwires 12 Cities, Belair: Live in London, The Cloud Talks, Downtown London Cloud, Free TrainFi in UK, Statewide/Nationwide Wireless Broadband, Urban WiMAX in the UK and Mobilizing WiFi on Trains & Cars.
.gif)
