UK city-wide Wi-Fi planned by spring

Wi-Fi provider The Cloud is planning to launch city-wide Wi-Fi services this spring, installing wireless broadband in nine cities including London, Manchester and Birmingham.

Each installation will consist of hundreds of 'hotzones' rolled out across each city, giving access to the internet for anyone using a Wi-Fi enabled computer or mobile phone.

The first phase will involve hotzones in Edinburgh, Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham, Nottingham, Oxford, Cambridge and three London boroughs, Islington, Kensington and Camden.

The Cloud claimed that that four million people will be near a city-wide service by the end of 2006.

"Providing ubiquitous wireless broadband access over a network available to millions of Wi-Fi devices, and to the new generation of Wi-Fi phones, gaming devices and other applications, will have a major impact on the way people communicate, work and play in city centres," said George Polk, chief executive at The Cloud.

The networks will be available to users of BT Openzone, O2, Skype Zones and Nintendo Wi-Fi, but The Cloud hopes that other service providers will want to join the party.

The firm currently has around 6,000 hotspot locations throughout the UK, Sweden and Germany.

Around 25 mobile phone handsets currently have Wi-Fi chips installed and could use the service as an alternative to cellular systems.