Arqiva brings free council Wi-Fi to five London Boroughs

Comms provider Arqiva has been enlisted by five London Boroughs to provide local residents with access to Wi-Fi services.

The company will start to rollout wireless connectivity in high footfall areas within the London Boroughs of Camden, Wandsworth, Hounslow, Islington, and Hammersmith and Fulham over the next 12 months.

As part of the deployment, Arqiva will use a mix of Wi-Fi hubs and 3G/4G small cell technology to provide indoor and outdoor coverage across all five London Boroughs.

The service will provide users with unlimited, free access to local council online services 24 hours a day, but they will be charged for accessing other sites after 30 minutes.

Nicolas Ott, managing director of government, mobile and enterprise at Arqiva, said 1.1 million local residents stand to benefit from the project.

"It is a very exciting partnership, which will complement the other locations in London where Arqiva already provides WiFi (hotels, restaurants, pubs, and shopping centres) to deliver a truly unique user experience," said Ott.

Councillor Ravi Govindia, a Wandsworth council leader, said the project will make it easier for local residents to get online.

"By giving our residents free access to the internet for 30 minutes, and to our site for as long as they like, we will make sure nobody loses out," said Govindia.

"It will also help our business community and mean all our young children, even those without internet access at home, can find out about training and employment opportunities."

Councillor Theo Blackwell, Camden cabinet member for finance, added: "It will be a huge benefit to businesses who will be able to trial new advertising techniques to better target their customers."