To do this, it has struck a deal with the largest two providers — BT Openzone and The Cloud — and it plans deals with several more. The current deals give users access to around 15,000 hot spots, or around 90 percent of the UK total.

Divine Wireless is also pioneering a new payment model — its customers will pay per minute, rather than having to take out a fixed-length subscription like BT and The Cloud (who already have their own roaming agreements). At 8p per minute, the cost is likely to be far cheaper for lower-end users than the individual hot spot operators. For example, BT Openzone charges £6 for one hour's usage, while The Cloud charges £12 for a week.

Users of Divine's service run a pre-paid account which can be topped up online. As from January, top-up vouchers will be available in branches of Carphone Warehouse and other high-street retailers, Rosenhoiz said.