Wi-Fi provided for London Underground during 2012 Olympics

Virgin Media has won a contract to provide wi-fi to passengers in London Underground, so we can all be Tweeting and updating our Facebook statuses on our way to the 2012 games. To avoid major construction work for added connectivity, the contract is for ticket offices, escalators and platforms.

From July 2012, tube passengers will be able to connect to the internet free of charge, until after the Olympic and Paralympic Games when it will be a pay-as-you-go service. It’s a good development, however Virgin Media intends to limit the service to it’s mobile and broadband customers, anyone that isn’t a customer will only be able to see a site showing online travel information.

London Underground staff will have the responsibility of fitting the wi-fi equipment. and according to the organisation the cost would be covered by the commercial contract. With such a major development on our underground network, it’s looking like it’s going to cause even more disruptions. Is it worth it? Will we really be surfing our favourite websites while sitting on platform benches? Leave a comment and let me know what you think.