BT Takes Wi-Fi Underground At Charing Cross Tube

The prospect of being able to surf the web whilst using the London Undergrond moved one step closer, as BT promised a Wi-Fi trial at Charing Cross tube station.

Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London has previously pledged full Wi-Fi coverage for the whole of London. And then in June this year, Johnson also said that Wi-Fi access plans would include bus stops and the London Underground.

That plan moved one step closer with BT’s plan to let customers to log on to the Internet from laptops and phones at Charing Cross Tube Station from 1 November.

Surfing On The Underground

The six month trial is being managed by Wi-Fi provider BT Openzone and London Underground, and will examine how the service works and gauge customer takeup. The BT funded trial will also include live Transport for London service updates available to all Wi-Fi users including non-BT customers.

The trial will cover the ticket hall area and Northern and Bakerloo line platforms of Charing Cross Tube. While the signal might allow passengers to download emails and go online whilst passing through these areas, it is worth noting that the trial does not include the trains themselves.

“An ever growing commuter populace has been clamouring to be able to check their emails and browse the net whilst on the go,” said Kulveer Ranger, the Mayor of London’s Transport Adviser. “This trial at Charing Cross will allow them to do just that whilst on the Tube platform. This is an important step towards seeing how this could be achieved and is part of the Mayor’s ambition to examine ways in which we can use technology to adapt the city’s transport system to meet the needs of those using it.”

According to Richard Parry, strategy and commercial director for London Underground, around 68,000 passenger journeys are made each day at Charing Cross Tube station.

Free For Some

“We hope that our customers will find it useful to have access to the internet while they are using the Tube station during this six-month trial,” said Parry. “Live service updates will allow passengers to check the status of the Tube and other transport services while they are on the move at the station.”

The service will apparently be free for BT’s five million broadband customers and for BT Openzone customers. Customers with O2, Vodafone, Tesco Mobile, and Orange who have Wi-Fi minutes in their contracts should also be able to use the BT Openzone network. Otherwise a BT Openzone voucher can be purchased online.

London Underground has warned that this trial and the work it entails, will inevitably result in some disruption for passengers.

Last Tech-free Bastion

The Underground has been one of the last holes in mobile phone and internet coverage in London, and it may be a a mixed blessing when commuters have to put up with passengers surfing and Skyping in the cramped and overcrowded London Underground trains.

It may be soon to get worse with chatty passengers added to the mix, thanks to efforts to extend blanket mobile phone signal coverage below street level.

Boris Johnson set a 2012 deadline for mobile phones on the London Underground back in September this year, but mobile operators are being asked to share the installations costs so it remains to be seen whether this target will be met.

The plan to extend the mobile networks to the Underground have been mooted for years now, but the high installation cost has always led to those plans being shelved.

Back in 2005 for example, then-Mayor Ken Livingstone asked for pitches on how best to bring a mobile network to the transport network, but the plans were shelved in 2009.