back to article London Underground Wi-Fi pusher to be announced in spring

Transport for London (TfL) is in the final stages of the tender process for the supply of Wi-Fi to up to 120 of its underground stations. The announcement of the chosen bidder had been scheduled for the end of 2011, but is now expected in early spring. Gareth Powell, director of strategy and service development, said: "London …

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  1. Tom Wood

    Ooh, a portal!

    How 1999.

  2. Steve Davies 3 Silver badge
    FAIL

    They are missing one essential item in the report

    Advertising.

    This won't fly without loads of adverts to keep the coffers at Tfl filled.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    Pity they can't spend the money on a decent train service first

    Instead of wasting it on this. Or perhaps this is just a sop to trapped passengers:

    "Hello honey, I'm stuck on a train in a tunnel yet again because the 80 year old signalling equipment they can't be bothered to replace has failed once more, but at least I can email you to tell you about it!"

    Its about time LU and TfL got their fscking priorities right, stop dicking about with nonsense like this, video ad boards , projector screens and endless other superfluous rubbish they've spent their (our!) money on in the last few years and concentrate on getting the core system working. Someone should remind them they're a transport organisation, NOT a fscking media one.

    1. Vic

      > I'm stuck on a train in a tunnel yet again

      ...Except even that won't work.

      The article says that the service will be available in the stations, but not on the trains.

      Vic.

  4. Ru
    Paris Hilton

    Why is WiFi fine,

    but mobile phone service not?

    Clearly the 'won't somebody think of the terrorists?' answer won't hold any water anymore.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    How long do you really spend on a TFL station??

    Personally I'm probably in TFL stations for <5 mins a day on my way in/out of work, and most of that time I'm jostling to get on a train or get out. Standing still time is very limited, by the time I'd connected to the WiFi and gone to a website it'd be time to leave.

    Seems like a gigantic waste of time/effort to me, far better that they allowed a data only 3G network on the whole tube not just stations, I don't think voice would be a good idea, it's too noisy to hold much of a conversation and so those shouting down phones would probably annoy more people than it helped, especially when you're often less that a foot away from several people's ears. Most people have so little manners and thought for others as it is on the tube, giving them another way to be irritating would not be good for passenger rage levels.

  6. TJ McVickers esq.
    FAIL

    Sweet Jesus..

    What a stupendous waste of time! personally, I move through the station as quickly as possible (sometimes forceably so by TFL goons) so what POSSIBLE use could this have? Foreign visitors will be sooo impressed with our complicated, charge/advertising based 56k modem speed pointless WiFi infrastructure in the fecking tube.. stations...

    I'm so proud.

  7. Asgard
    Megaphone

    Underground Wi-Fi

    Oh how refined. Wi-Fi on the underground. So now we can all sit back in wonderful comfort to use our phones and maybe even a laptop on the Underground. Meanwhile back in reality, the experience for most of us on the London Underground is one of sometimes being so badly packed in like sardines, that there are times we can hardly have room to breath! ... Its illegal to pack in animals as tightly as they pack in humans on the Underground!

    Also outside of rush hour (more like rush 4 hours) even in the late evenings (when it is a bit quieter) there are many people who wouldn't want to risk using a laptop or even some a phone, on some parts of the Underground, for fear of being mugged.

    So some how, I can't help thinking they have far bigger problems than just wifi as a barrier to us all using more technology on the Underground! ... So is this an Olympics PR move by the London Underground? ... To try to make more people (who have yet to visit) think the underground is some how more refined, just in time for the Olympics this year?

    Icon for: Your train is being held (in this hot stinking tunnel, with no fresh air coming into the hot stinking carriages), whilst we (again) wait for the train in front!

    1. M A Walters
      Coat

      Yes, but...

      All valid comments, however the tube is not nearly as packed as Moscow metro or Tokyo subway - if you've ever been on one of those during the morning rush hour, you'd know the true meaning of packed :-)

      1. Putonghua73

        Re Yes, but

        The compensation when I was on the Odakyu line was a plethora of Japanese women. There is no such compensation on London Underground.

        Have portals next to ticket machines to help plan journeys (with multi-lingual options - bit like Hong Kong, although I believe you can even trade shares on their portals?), fine. Better would be adopting the radical notion of co-ordinating services so when commuters traverse from one line to the other (say Finsbury Park), they can - gasp - actually board the train (relieving platform congestion) and not suffer the ignominy of doors slamming into their face.

        Yes, Japan does adopt this radical notion.

        When one finally boards a train - jammed in - misery is made complete by stopping in a tunnel "to regulate the service"!

        ****s! Of the highest order.

  8. MyHeadIsSpinning
    Paris Hilton

    Pron

    I wonder how many people will be watching pron on their smartphones while sitting on the tube with a newspaper across their laps?

    Paris, because she'd probably like to go for a ride.

  9. This Side Up
    FAIL

    The last thing you want

    is people hanging around on stations to use the Wi-Fi.

    @Boltar - LUL is rolling out new signalling systems. It can't be done all at once because passengers tend not to like having the railway shut down.

  10. illiad

    !!you have not read the article!!

    apologies to the few that did...

    NO chance of sitting back on the tube, checking mail/ news / porn... (yes, there are off peak times this is possible, but not with wifi...) - there some outlying stations I have waited 10 to 15 mins, though..

    NO need for ads, they are going to charge you for venturing 'outside' the portal... :(

    NO chance up upgrading the whole system, unless you want NO UNDERGROUND for a month or two????

    I am sure you know the anguish caused by overrunning maintenance work at weekends.... :(

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    what else are TfL getting other than a portal

    Free access for operational staff and equipment? I can imagine that maintenance and operational staff having a link back to central systems could be useful

  12. illiad

    Free access for operational staff and equipment?

    well, unless you WORK there, and know different...

    I would guess all staff already have enough ways to connect back to central systems.- using radio and datacomms, a *lot* more reliable than any PC stuff.... :)

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