Broadband News

BT Openzone reaches 3m wireless broadband hotspots

Thursday 19 January, 2012

By Duncan Heaney

Wi-Fi hotspot users across the UK strike it lucky as BT add 1m more access points.

BT Openzone has announced that its UK wireless broadband network now includes more than three million access points, up from two million at the end of 2010.

A Wi-Fi hotspot is a location where you can connect to the internet via wireless broadband. Hotspots can be found in homes, independent businesses - such as hotels and cafes - and across some city centres.

BT Openzone hotspots are free to access for BT Broadband customers, and many mobile broadband providers include free access to hotspots as part of their monthly data plans.

Improvements have been made across the UK. The south-west now has more than 330,000 Wi-Fi hotspots - almost triple the number there were two years ago. Bristol is particularly well served with just short of 12,000 access points in the city.

The north of England is also seeing improvement. The north-east now has close to 99,000 hotspots, and the number in Yorkshire and the Humber has shot up to more than 205,000. This includes approximately 18,000 in Sheffield, 9,000 in York, 14,000 in Bradford and 25,000 in Leeds.

Scotland is also well served, with almost 320,000 Wi-Fi hotspots across the most country. According to BT, there are now 26,000 hotspots in Glasgow, 20,000 in Edinburgh, 16,700 in Aberdeen and 26,700 across the highlands.

Public Wi-Fi access points in Wales have also nearly tripled in three years. The region has almost 170,000 hotspots, including 12,000 in Cardiff.

BT has invested significantly in expanding its UK Wi-Fi network over the last few years. In 2011, it produced an application for iPad to help BT Broadband customers easily find and connect to hotspots.