Posted: 01st Jun, 2007 By: MarkJ
PC Plus magazine reports London's "free"
Wi-Fi network (at least for the first month), which is operated by '
The Cloud', has only managed to register 6,000 people to use its service out of a potential 350,000:
The idea of blanket
Wi-Fi coverage is flawed, said Elliott Mueller, chief executive of Manchester's Metronet
Wi-Fi network. "
It is difficult to get people to pay for Wi-Fi because they have internet access at home and outdoor coverage is patchy," he said.
The Cloud said it is considering teaming up with mobile operators to offer
Wi-Fi access bundled into phone handsets to increase take-up. "
We are trying to deliver a mobile web experience," said Niall Murphy, co-founder of The Cloud.
Typically residents of London have many choices for accessing the Internet and most will already have a method of getting online, hence the demand for such a service was always going to be flaky. But is it a flop or merely to be expected?