Heathrow Express gets a WiFi HotSpot

 

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By Alun Williams

Posted on 7 Nov 2006 at 13:32

Travellers on the Heathrow Express will be offered a WiFi service from T-Mobile early next year. The on-board HotSpot service will provide 8Mbps broadband for the entire journey, including tunnel sections.

The WiFi service is intended to complement existing HotSpots in Central London and Heathrow. This means that access passes, which can be purchased on-board, can also be used at either end of the journey.

'We are delighted to be able to announce the new HotSpot service on the Heathrow Express', said Jay Saw, T-Mobile's HotSpot Manager. 'This builds on the success of the service we launched in April 2005 on the London-Brighton Southern train line. It will also complement our coverage throughout Heathrow Airport, including many airline lounges, and throughout Central London, ensuring that passengers are able to log-on at all stages of their journey.'

The HotSpot Service is currently being rolled out by Nomad Digital and should be fully operational on all trains by 'early 2007'.

You can find details of T-Mobile's HotPSot pricing structure here.

The Heathrow Express carries more than five million passengers a year, with a higher than average percentage of business travellers. While journey times are typically only 15 minutes or so, T-Mobile points out that journey times can extend to more than 20 minutes with additional on-platform waiting times of up to 15 minutes.