The last sanctuary from the incessant red light blinking on BlackBerry devices will begin to vanish in the next few weeks as Wi-Fi coverage is extended to the London Underground.
Passengers will be able to check emails, browse the internet and even attempt to watch live TV on their mobiles, tablets and laptops while waiting for trains at 80 stations across the network. Another 40 will be connected by the end of the year.
The service, which will be free to everyone for the whole summer, is expected to come online at some stations, including King's Cross, Leicester Square, Oxford Circus and Stratford, within the next couple of weeks.
Virgin Media, which is providing the service in partnership with Transport for London (TfL), said passengers would be able to connect to the internet in ticket halls, on escalators and platforms and from inside trains waiting in stations.
Coverage will be lost when trains enter tunnels, but Virgin said customers would be automatically reconnected upon arrival at the next station.
"Your pages will update as soon as you enter a new station, so you will be able to tweet your journey," a Virgin spokeswoman said.
The first tweet from the underground was posted by Rory Cellan-Jones, the BBC's technology correspondent, who managed to stream an episode of The Apprentice on the BBC's iPlayer on his iPad.
Ordinary users, however, will struggle to get speeds anywhere near fast enough to stream video as the service is likely to be overloaded by the number of passengers trying to connect.
Virgin said speeds would be "comparable" to the planned 4G mobile phone internet.
The service will only be free for everyone until the end of the London 2012 Olympic Games. Customers of some Virgin broadband packages will continue to receive free access; pay-as-you-go access will be available to others.
The telco said that it planned to connect 82 stations on the Tube network by the end of July. The remaining 38 stations earmarked for the wireless service are expected to be offering internet access at platform-only level by the end of the year, Virgin Media added.
As we reported previously, the monopoly underground Wi-Fi network will be offered to punters for free during the London 2012 Olympics.
Once the games are over, Virgin Media customers will continue to get free access while waiting at a platform for the next tube to pull in.
But everyone else will have to pay, apart from a limited offering "including TfL’s journey planner and entertainment and news content useful for a commute to work or trip into town", which will continue to be free.
“Bringing a next generation WiFi service to one of the world’s oldest underground transport networks is progressing as planned and the forthcoming service is testing well," London Underground's director of strategy and service development Gareth Powell said.
“The first stations include some of our busiest and most well-known destinations and we’re on-track for a successful launch this summer - all delivered at no additional cost to fare payers or tax payers.
Passengers will be able to check emails, browse the internet and even attempt to watch live TV on their mobiles, tablets and laptops while waiting for trains at 80 stations across the network. Another 40 will be connected by the end of the year.
The service, which will be free to everyone for the whole summer, is expected to come online at some stations, including King's Cross, Leicester Square, Oxford Circus and Stratford, within the next couple of weeks.
Virgin Media, which is providing the service in partnership with Transport for London (TfL), said passengers would be able to connect to the internet in ticket halls, on escalators and platforms and from inside trains waiting in stations.
Coverage will be lost when trains enter tunnels, but Virgin said customers would be automatically reconnected upon arrival at the next station.
"Your pages will update as soon as you enter a new station, so you will be able to tweet your journey," a Virgin spokeswoman said.
The first tweet from the underground was posted by Rory Cellan-Jones, the BBC's technology correspondent, who managed to stream an episode of The Apprentice on the BBC's iPlayer on his iPad.
Ordinary users, however, will struggle to get speeds anywhere near fast enough to stream video as the service is likely to be overloaded by the number of passengers trying to connect.
Virgin said speeds would be "comparable" to the planned 4G mobile phone internet.
The service will only be free for everyone until the end of the London 2012 Olympic Games. Customers of some Virgin broadband packages will continue to receive free access; pay-as-you-go access will be available to others.
The telco said that it planned to connect 82 stations on the Tube network by the end of July. The remaining 38 stations earmarked for the wireless service are expected to be offering internet access at platform-only level by the end of the year, Virgin Media added.
As we reported previously, the monopoly underground Wi-Fi network will be offered to punters for free during the London 2012 Olympics.
Once the games are over, Virgin Media customers will continue to get free access while waiting at a platform for the next tube to pull in.
But everyone else will have to pay, apart from a limited offering "including TfL’s journey planner and entertainment and news content useful for a commute to work or trip into town", which will continue to be free.
“Bringing a next generation WiFi service to one of the world’s oldest underground transport networks is progressing as planned and the forthcoming service is testing well," London Underground's director of strategy and service development Gareth Powell said.
“The first stations include some of our busiest and most well-known destinations and we’re on-track for a successful launch this summer - all delivered at no additional cost to fare payers or tax payers.
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