UK wireless broadband set to expand

Wireless broadband services could be available over a much wider area of the country after telecoms giant BT announced a plan to boost Wi-Fi coverage.

In a tie-up with fellow telecoms company Fon, BT is hoping to transform all its broadband users' home wireless hubs into Wi-Fi hotspots by sharing their broadband capacity.

Improved access for mobile communications could see a boost in the use of voice over internet protocol (VoIP) as both firms and consumers find it easier to connect to services, such as secure IP PBXs, when out and about.

To tempt home broadband users into giving over as much as half a megabit of their connection to outside users, BT and Fon is offering them free access to the additional Wi-Fi capacity in the UK, Japan, Spain, France and the US.

Welcoming the deal, the managing director of BT, Gavin Patterson, said the plan would create "the people's network of Wi-Fi that could one day cover every street in Britain".