A wireless service provider and a game machine supplier
have joined forces to build a nationwide, high-speed wireless
internet network that will connect 3,000 UK pubs by the end of this
year.
Inspired Broadcast Networks (IBN), a joint venture between
wireless service provider Inspired Technology and game machine
supplier Leisure Link Holdings, claimed its network, called The
Cloud, will be the biggest Wi-Fi network of its kind in Europe.
IBN aimed to cover 250 locations by the end of next month and
will offer free trial services in these locations. From July, IBN
will roll out a commercial service at 1,000 locations, with 3,000
to go online by the end of the year.
The WiFi network will use the national network of broadband
connected games terminals operated by Inspired Technology in
co-operation with Leisure Link, which manages 90,000 game machines
in 30,000 locations in the UK.
"Pubs, especially in the afternoons, tend to be quiet places
where many business people come to work or have meetings over
lunch," said George Polk, managing director of The Cloud service.
"And a lot of these people come with their notebook computers."
For future expansion, IBN will look at other sites with
coin-operated entertainment and game machines in the Leisure Link
group.
For the most part, IBN intends to sell capacity on its WLAN
network to companies offering high-speed wireless internet access
to consumers.
"Our principal business is wholesale," Polk said. "We will offer
capacity to carriers, systems integrators and other well-branded
companies that want to sell high-speed wireless internet access to
their customers."
One of IBN's first customers is BT, which aimed to expand the
coverage of its BT Openzone wireless service through The Cloud
network, Polk said, adding that the service would support roaming
between hotspots within the IBN network and the networks of its
customers.
IBN will also sell directly to customers. "The entertainment
machines in the pubs are equipped to accept money and print
vouchers," Polk said, "so we plan to use these machines to sell
service directly to customers on a pay-as-you-go basis."
Polk declined to provide prices, saying only that they would
have to be as attractive as offers already available on the
market.
Ericsson Intel have been selected to supply technology.
Yesterday (Thursday) Ericsson announced a contract to supply IBN
with WLAN base stations, based on the 802.11b standard, and DSL
(Digital Subscriber Line) modems for an additional 2,000
hotspots.
"This contract will bump up the number of hotspots in the IBN
network to 5,000," said Ericsson spokesman Mats Thorén. "And there
could be more; Leisure Link has over 30,000 locations."
IBN has "chosen to use the tried and tested 802.11b standard"
but is prepared to upgrade to 802.11a "if the market demands it",
Polk said.