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Virgin Media O2 UK Tackles Data Poverty with Free WiFi Service

Thursday, Sep 21st, 2023 (12:01 am) - Score 4,992
Jangala-Get-Box-WiFi-Router

Mobile operator O2 (Virgin Media) has signed a new multi-year partnership with UK tech charity Jangala, which aims to help get thousands of people affected by data poverty online by introducing free WiFi hotspots via the roll-out of 5,000 broadband-enabling “Get Boxes” to homes, community centres, refuges, and homeless shelters.

The “Get Boxes” appear to be small WiFi routers that can each connect up to around 20 people (there’s a larger “Big Box” unit for those seeking to connect more users). The idea is that these routers can be posted to a user, who can then simply plug it into mains electricity, establishing a secure Wi-Fi network instantly.

The broadband connectivity for all this will be supplied by O2’s mobile 4G data connectivity (there’s no mention of 5G support), which we assume must come integrated with the router in order for it to work in the way described above. The plan is to send 5,000 Get Boxes to schools, charities, and other community initiatives, and then distribute those to households and other groups that need them the most.

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The boxes will also be sent to temporary accommodation sites. For example, Get Boxes are being used at a domestic abuse refuge centre in Coventry, helping victims to access essential online services to help them rebuild their lives.

The partnership will build on VMO2’s existing support of Jangala’s global Emergency Response programme which has seen ‘Big Boxes’ being deployed during humanitarian crises, enabling disaster response teams and communities to access WiFi, including the tragic earthquake in Türkiye and Syria earlier this year.

Dana Haidan, Chief Sustainability Officer at VMO2, said:

“Through our partnership with Jangala, we’ll help thousands of low-income families and people who would otherwise be unconnected to get online via free fast and reliable WiFi so they can access essential services, like booking medical appointments or applying for work, or staying in touch with their loved ones.

It builds on the measures Virgin Media O2 is taking to tackle data poverty. Whether it’s free O2 data from the National Databank, rehoming devices and data with people who need them, or offering great value broadband plans for people receiving benefits, we’re continuing to help people in need stay connected.”

Jangala’s remote management and visibility metrics should make it easy for their project partners – such as operators like VMO2 or charities providing support to vulnerable people – to receive usage statistics and control the service. But the announcement makes no mention of any caveats, such as how much included data will be provided, whether any checking will be done to ensure good 4G signals exist in the end-user’s area or for how long the service itself will last.

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Mark-Jackson
By Mark Jackson
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads.net and .
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12 Responses

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  1. Avatar photo Anonymous says:

    Yeah, the speeds most likely won’t be all that great – but if it’s free you can’t complain with about 10-30mbps depending on area (I did a speedtest earlier whilst out on 4g, only got about 15 max and that was with full signal) The most I’ve ever witnessed is about 60mbps and that was during a 2 days or 48 hour time earlier this year where free data was provided due to network issues

  2. Avatar photo Russ says:

    Even as a paying customer of O2 on an unlimited data tariff I suffer from data poverty due to their chronic shortage of back haul capacity, I cant believe the number of times I try to use my data only to be unable to even load a webpage.

    Whilst my previous provider Smarty (Three) weren’t flawless, their network capacity certainly felt considerably better than O2 whom it feels like have near zero 5G availability in my local area. Unfortunately I am tied into an 18 month O2 contract as part of my Virgin Media Unlimited Volt deal however if their data provision doesnt improve in the coming months I will be looking to take an early exit from the O2 contract.

  3. Avatar photo I love Starlink says:

    o2 surprise me. Three does not work at all here. (my Iphone keeps going into Sat mode) but when I got an O2 based MVNO esim I was getting 80-100 on 5g in this field.

    It reminds me of a part of the railway between Boston and Skegness (where it goes around a sharp bend) you get nearly 800Mbps on Three as you go round that bend but at the station 100M away 40-50Mbps. Maybe they should tie repeaters to sheep? lol

  4. Avatar photo andrew says:

    If they run on o2 they’ll be getting shit all data speed, I get 4mbps at work. Can’t watch YT or Plex or Tiktok at lunch

  5. Avatar photo mike says:

    They’re shutting down Virgin Media WiFi. They could have given access to that for free to anyone within range that meets the eligibility criteria. Would’ve been cheaper and better for the planet as they could have produced far less of these boxes.

    1. Avatar photo andrew says:

      Virgin Media Wi-Fi only works if people use the superhub as a router…. which if anyone has any common sense, they won’t as it’s a pile of shit. The superhub 3 promised me “whole home wifi” when I complained, I got a Wifi extra pod…. that didn’t connect to the superhub 3 in router mode, so I gave up and it’s sat in a box while I use my flawless Unifi wifi access point

    2. Avatar photo mike says:

      Andrew, walk about any street and see how often you see Virgin Media WiFi. The vast majority of customers use what they’re given. My phone connects to a hotspot pretty much anywhere I go.

    3. Avatar photo Name says:

      I’ll agree with Andrew that ISP routers can be naff.

      That doesn’t mean that the routers are any good, it simply means that people have not bothered to replace them. There is after-all a reason for ISP’s supplying routers as if they grew on trees and the reason is that most customers are not interested in sourcing their own equipment – which I find to be a shame really with technical illiteracy and what not.

      When I was with BT I had the Home Hub 5 – it was okay in all fairness for the everyday layman however it would always broadcast the public WiFi service which could only be disabled through your BT account. As the account was not in my name it wasn’t really an option. Since nobody in the house used the free public WiFi as part of that I would have just turned it off. Even modifying the DNS settings under DHCP was not an option but I was able to work around that with a TP-Link travel router. Guest WiFi was not a thing on the HH5.

      Using my own router would have meant asking the account holder to mess about calling BT for the login information & since they worked night shift they weren’t exactly jumping to something they didn’t even care about. The same with Vodafone – getting the broadband login means exactly the same thing. Fortunately the Vodafone THG3000 is less patronising than the HH5.

      My point? Most people already don’t care enough as they already get a home router and it’s more hassle than it’s worth sometimes even for those more technically minded. I hear though that Virgin does atleast include a ‘Modem Mode’ on HFC connections – it is probably a similar story for those who are on the FTTP network if it’s the same router.

  6. Avatar photo 12 says:

    > “connectivity for all this will be supplied by O2’s mobile 4G data connectivity”

    I hope others have a better experience than me, because I struggle do basic tasks on my phone with O2. But I guess it’s still better than nothing.

  7. Avatar photo Clearmind60 says:

    What O2 “5G” are they talking about?? I have tested their 5G connections throughout London. Very poor speeds.

  8. Avatar photo AK Khan says:

    Does anyone know why VM no longer offer freestanding TV packages?

    1. Avatar photo Blake says:

      Because the V6 and 360 require broadband to work. Only the old original Tivo worked just with its coax connection and they are no longer available, just about supported but if any issues they now get replaced with a newer model and thus you need broadband.

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