BSkyB ( Sky Broadband ) is reportedly planning to enter the UK Wi-Fi Hotspot (public wireless internet access) market, which would allow them to compete directly with BT Retail's "FREE WiFi Access" deal for home broadband ISP customers, by acquiring The Cloud.

According to the Sunday Times, which is owned by Sky's parent firm News Corporation and sits behind a private paywall, BSkyB will report its latest financial results on Thursday this week and at the same time more could be revealed about this deal .

It would certainly be a logical move for Sky, especially with Virgin Media UK also now looking to get involved in the Public WiFi Hotspots game (here). The Cloud, a self proclaimed high quality Wi-Fi network operator, currently runs 22,000+ access points across Europe and employs over 100 staff (based in London, Munich and Stockholm). Consumer services start at £6.95 per month for "unlimited" access and average download speeds are usually above 3.5Mbps.