Virgin Media trials “wi-fi under your feet” service

Virgin Media has trialled a new Wi-Fi service in Buckinghamshire, allowing high streets to access free broadband.

Shoppers in the area have been able to try “under your feet Wi-Fi” on the high street, which gives unlimited broadband access to residents.

Virgin Media has heralded this as the UK’s first “Wi-Fi pavement” and claims it was made possible using a combination of fibre cabinets and new smart pavement technology.

Chesham, a town in Buckinghamshire, has been one of the first to enjoy the benefits of the service, with its 36 acre Lowndes Park shopping centre being covered.

Users have been able to access speeds as high as 166Mb - fast enough for large downloads such as movies and TV shows.

This new service has been cited as being part of Virgin’s £3 million Project Lightening scheme, which aims to connect 4 million UK homes to ultrafast broadband.

Virgin has previously said that it wants to improve the UK’s out-of-home connectivity, with smart pavement service being the next step in this goal.

Virgin’s managing director, Gregor McNeil, claimed that this was just the start, and that more cities should apply for the service.

“Not only is this the first time we’ve built metropolitan Wi-Fi directly from our street cabinets, it is also the UK’s first deployment of a wi-fi connected pavement. It is literally public Wi-Fi under your feet.”

“We want to build more networks like this across the UK and encourage more forward thinking councils just like Chesham to get in touch.”

Virgin continues to offer one of the fastest fibre-optic services available, with the provider recently extending its maximum speed to up to 200Mb.