From today, tourists, visitors and Londoners alike can enjoy free O2 Wifi in some of the busiest parts of London. Iconic areas such as Leicester Square, Piccadilly Circus and Exhibition Road are amongst the seven squares and shopping streets benefiting from the landmark deal between Westminster City Council, the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea and communications provider O2.
Running at no cost to the council or the taxpayer, the scheme enables millions of people living in or visiting the capital to enjoy fast, free, reliable wifi whilst out and about. O2 Wifi is free for everyone, regardless of network or broadband provider and once registered, customers will be automatically connected each time they enter a coverage area. With over a million visitors and commuters daily and a 13% increase expected during the Summers’ festivities the new network will enable Londoners and visitors to the city share their pictures and updates of the events, or check on transport links, for free.
The Mayor of London Boris Johnson said: “With millions of extra people coming to town for the Games, we want to ensure we showcase the capital as the best city in the world to work and visit, and the addition of free Wifi to some of our most popular landmarks is crucial in helping to maintaining that reputation.”
Content on the homepage will be automatically updated depending on the users’ location and the UK’s leading premium department store, House of Fraser, will be the first exclusive advertiser across the outdoor O2 Wifi network.
A recent survey of Westminster residents revealed that 69% own a smartphone compared to 43% of the total UK population. This figure rises to 81% among 25-44 year-olds in Westminster and even 25% of over 60s have a smartphone. In addition, 23% of all Westminster residents own an iPad compared to just 12% of the population nationwide, proving Westminster residents to be some of the most connected in the UK.
Gavin Franks, MD of O2 Wifi said, “We are proud to announce that today, we can bring O2 Wifi to some of the busiest streets and squares of central London. We are now providing Londoners and visitors alike with fast, free, reliable wifi when visiting some of the busiest areas in Westminster and Kensington & Chelsea. This comes after a succession of venue announcements with partners like Costa Coffee, House of Fraser and McDonald’s.
O2 Wifi was launched fifteen months ago and in that time we have transformed the wifi market with innovation and fresh thinking.”
Notes to Editors:
O2 Wifi will span Exhibition Road, High Street Kensington, Parliament Square, Trafalgar Square, Oxford Street/ Regent Street, Leicester Square and Piccadilly by the end of July.
For more about what’s on in London this summer and beyond visit: www.visitlondon.com
For more information contact:
O2 Press Office
O2
t:01753565656
e: pressoffice@o2.com
About O2 in the UK
O2 is the commercial brand of Telefónica UK Limited and is a leading communications company with over 23 million customers – read more about O2 at www.o2.co.uk/news. O2 runs 2G and 3G networks and was the first to trial 4G/LTE, reaching speeds of over 100Mpbs, as well as owning half of Tesco Mobile. It also operates O2 Wifi, O2 Health, O2 Unify, O2 Media and has recently launched the O2 Wallet. O2 employs over 11,000 people in the UK, has 450 retail stores and sponsors The O2, O2 Academy venues and the England rugby team. Telefónica UK Limited is part of Telefónica Europe plc which uses O2 as its commercial brand in the UK, Ireland, Slovakia, Germany and the Czech Republic and is a business division of Telefónica SA.
press enquiries
press enquiries