Mobile user O2 is to give free internet to "millions" of residents and visitors in middle London by rising Europe's largest free wi-fi zone.
The service will be rolled out opposite the boroughs of Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea in 2012.
O2 mentioned the deal, that will have free to the taxpayer, will capacitate visitors to "make the many of what London has to offer".
Councillor Philippa Roe, cupboard associate for vital financial at Westminster City Council, said: "Westminster welcomes over a million tourists a day, is home to 250,000 residents, employs over half a million people and sees 4,000 business starts-ups any year.
"Visitors to London will simply be able to share their cinema and updates of the Olympic events opposite amicable networking sites."
O2 will start installing the Metro wireless network opposite Westminster this month, primarily being existing in paltry areas before being rolled out opposite both boroughs.
London is infectious up with other leading cities. In Paris, a few hundred particular wi-fi zones offer free connectors in open parks and metropolitan spaces.
New York moreover offers free wi-fi in parks and final year began to setup wireless internet access at a few of its transport stations.
London's service will be powered by apparatus trustworthy to lamp-posts and other existing structures on London's streets, and should be finished by March.
"This ground-breaking deal... will see us broach high-quality connectivity opposite London in time for London 2012," mentioned Derek McManus, arch working executive for O2.
"Our longer-term target is to spread our footprint of O2 wi-fi, that is open to everyone, and moreover cleverly complement our services at lane level, where people need the network the most."
John Hunt, from eccentric broadband examination site thinkbroadband.com, mentioned the service would be really popular, quite for abroad tourists disturbed about costly mobile costs.
"Obviously, free wireless is a great thing. It allows people to obtain online cheaper," he told the BBC.
"Whether it will be able to hoop the Olympics is going to be their principal issue."
Mr Hunt updated that London is apropos a well-connected town for residents and tourists unfortunate to be online whilst on the move.
"There are other networks as well, such as The Cloud and BT Openzone, and a lot more places similar to coffee shops are getting people online," he said.
However, he mentioned residents living in the free wi-fi areas should not be deliberation ditching their home connection.
"The complaint you will have is that the wireless might not be swift sufficient to encouragement all you wish to do.
"I do not regard it will indispensably reinstate home broadband - it's more a complementing service."
In November 2010, Charing Cross became the initial Underground hire to offer wireless connectivity as segment of a six-month trial.
A mouthpiece for Transport for London told the BBC that it hopes to setup the service in up to 120 stations on the network in time is to Olympics.
Another trial, sponsored by Finnish definite Nokia , entangled 26 free wi-fi hotspots in locations opposite the city.
The definite mentioned it programmed to make it a fully-fledged service in 2012.
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