Railways set for Wi-Fi showdown

Daily Newsletters

Sign up to ZDNet UK's daily newsletter.

NEWS
The UK's two leading Wi-Fi operators are on course for their first territorial clash, and the scene of battle is Britain's largest railway stations. BT Openzone, the pace-setter in the rollout of 802.11b, or Wi-Fi, hot spots across the UK, said last week that it expected to offer its service at railway stations in the near future, in its push to make Wi-Fi "widely available to businesspeople on the move." Openzone officials declined to disclose further details about this plan, but if executed it would set up a battle with Openzone's main rival, Megabeam. Both firms have said they are targeting businesspeople with their high-speed wireless Internet services, and control of travel hubs is seen as a key factor in winning this market. Megabeam signed a deal with Railtrack -- now Network Rail -- last year to create hot spots at 15 of Britain's largest railway stations. Only one is operational so far, at Paddington Station, with Euston, Liverpool Street, Victoria and Waterloo due to follow within the next two months. No date has yet been publicly announced for the activation of hot spots at the remaining stations -- Kings Cross, London Bridge, Fenchurch Street, Charing Cross, Gatwick, Birmingham New Street, Manchester Piccadilly, Leeds Central, Glasgow Central and Edinburgh Waverley. When Megabeam's agreement with Railtrack was announced, back in June 2002, industry figures thought it placed Megabeam in a strong market position. This deal would not prevent Openzone from making a similar move, though, according to Ryan Jarvis, chief executive of Megabeam. "Megabeam targets travel hubs -- airports and rail stations -- and travel destinations. Our agreements with destinations are always exclusive. The majority of agreements with hubs are non-exclusive, although there are exceptions like Brussels Airport and London City Airport, which are exclusive," Jarvis told ZDNet UK News. "We were always clear that Railtrack is non-exclusive, we were just the first to do the deal," Jarvis added. According to experts, there are no technical reasons why both companies couldn't operate 802.11b wireless LANs in the same area, as long as they cooperate. It would, though, put them head-to-head in a race to attract as many mobile workers as possible to their service. David Hughes, director of mobility at BT, said last week that Openzone was focused on the "road warrior" -- people who want access to the Internet and their corporate systems while away from the office. Megabeam is also concentrating on this market, through alliances with airports and the Moat House hotel chain, for example. Megabeam currently has 14 hot spots up and running in Britain, compared to Openzone's 80.
Discover the latest developments in Wi-Fi, 3G, GPRS and other cutting-edge wireless technologies at ZDNet UK's Wireless News Section. Let the editors know what you think in the Mailroom.

Post your comment

In order to post a comment you need to be registered and logged in.

You can also log in with Facebook. Log in or create your ZDNet UK account below

  • Login

Will not be displayed with your comment

By signing up for this service, you indicate that you agree to our Terms and Conditions and have read and understood our Privacy Policy. Questions about membership? Find the answers in the Community FAQ

Get ZDNet UK's daily newsletter

Enter your email address to sign up

ZDNet UK Live

bootlegger

Make that 13 people now - I got refused today at Manchester airport. I thought I was up to date on this legislation - I knew of the EU ruling from...

3 hours ago by bootlegger on UK airport body scans will not be opt out
tinycg

Don't forget to check out apps like GoodReader or SlideShark either, they're indispensible for people on the go in presentation situations. Best...

6 hours ago by tinycg on Four top iPad apps for people on the move
TerryRK

Well it seems there is something a number of us agree on. Why is the Ubuntu Unity launcher so ugly? I thought perhaps it was something to do with...

10 hours ago by TerryRK on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
Freebies202

Duplicate comments are not made intentionally. Its very good to know that now you are keeping check on this problem because sometimes a commenter...

20 hours ago by Freebies202 on Microsoft fixes blog comments, speeds up blogs with open source
kevinmchapman

"the very significant number of users" and "many (most) of us" - you have no evidence for these statements. It is a fact that most users are saying...

1 day ago by kevinmchapman on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
Marg Menzies Harrison

Another grammar faux pas is the improper use of "you". When sitting down down in a restaurant, for example, I get cringe when the waitress...

1 day ago by Marg Menzies Harrison via Facebook on 10 flagrant grammar mistakes that make you look stupid
zdnetukuser

And NOW, folks, for Canonical's next trick... Kubuntu is late. Here's a pencil. Draw your own conclusions. cf.:...

1 day ago by zdnetukuser on Linux Minterface
Moley

@kevinmchapman. The discussion here reflects the very significant number of users who really do like the traditional menu system and who wish to...

1 day ago by Moley on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
kevinmchapman

Er, no... It is an efficient means of finding the application/file/setting you need in one place. The icons are a simply a fallback for when you...

1 day ago by kevinmchapman on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
TerryRK

Isn't the provision of a text based search an admission by the developers that the mass of icons approach does not work? I don't need to use a...

1 day ago by TerryRK on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
kevinmchapman

"Unity and GNOME 3 both abandon the old text-based cascading menus in favour of a graphical icon-driven system." Point truly missed. Both use a...

1 day ago by kevinmchapman on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
TerryRK

whs001 - Thank you, I'm glad you liked the article. I absolutely agree with you on your first point. I should perhaps have made it clearer that...

1 day ago by TerryRK on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
Dennis Nilsson

If we allow corporate interest to dictate the way our government circumvents due process against foreign entities then we should accept the same...

2 days ago by Dennis Nilsson via Facebook on ACTA stumbles in Germany
GHar123

I totally dislike pirating of works, I fear that artists will be deterred from creating works if they think that they are going to get ripped off....

2 days ago by GHar123 on ACTA stumbles in Germany
JCB33

How dare film makers, artists or anybody that invests in creativity stop us pirating their works for free. I want to be able to walk into my local...

2 days ago by JCB33 on ACTA stumbles in Germany
Moley

@GrueMaster. I prefer horses for courses rather than one size fits all. I, and I suspect most other computer users, do not really wish to have...

2 days ago by Moley on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
greycynic

The product that scares me every time I have to use it is the Office 2007 version of Excel. The first bug that I found was applying the median...

2 days ago by greycynic on Ten flawed products that derail productivity
GrueMaster

Nice review and very informative. One thing I'd like to add (in reply to whs001's 1st question), the main reason to have the same interface from...

2 days ago by GrueMaster on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
Frederick Wrigley

I'be been using Mint 12 since the RC came out, and I am far more happy with the Cinnamon, the Mate, and, yes (with extensions), theGnome 3...

2 days ago by Frederick Wrigley via Facebook on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
bdantas

Excellent article. One small correction, though--although a fresh installation of Linux Mint 12 will, indeed, provide the user with a version of...

2 days ago by bdantas on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint