BT offers unlimited Wi-Fi hotspot access

IPhone 4 buyers will still have free access to BT Openzone hotspots

BT has announced that all 1.5 million Openzone and FON Wi-Fi hotspots around the UK will now offer unlimited use for iPhone and BT Total Broadband customers.

The telco had imposed limits on the Wi-Fi minutes available to BT Total Broadband customers, but has removed these to ensure unrestricted access to the internet on the go.

"Because of the growing number of BT customers with mobile devices such as tablet computers and smartphones, we know that mobile access to the internet is needed more than ever before," said BT Retail consumer managing director John Petter.

A spokesperson for BT added that the announcement is also designed to reassure customers with the iPhone, particularly those awaiting an iPhone 4, that they will still have free access to BT Openzone hotspots as part of their contracts.

Google's Nexus One phone also offers free BT Openzone access, regardless of network operator.

BT expects to have over 2.5 million hotspots by the end of 2011, and will release an application in the near future that helps users find Openzone and FON hotspots.

BT used the announcement to criticise O2's decision to remove its unlimited 3G access, saying that "we thought rationing ended in the 1950s".

O2 chief executive Ronan Dunne said on 10 June that the company will remove unlimited data allowances to curb excessive use by what the firm claimed was a minority of its users.

"The vast majority of our users will be completely unaffected by the changes. Ninety seven per cent of our smartphone customers currently use less than 500MB of data every month," he said.