London’s Square Mile financial district will have near total WiFi coverage by the end of this year.

The wireless network will be installed in street furniture such as lampposts and street signs. The City of London Corporation, which commissioned the network, says it will be the first of its kind in the world with full roaming capability.

Traditional wireless links comprise standalone hotspots, but the City’s new platform will be a mesh network that enables continuous activity.

The network uses multi-radio technology rather than the single-radio equipment used in US mesh networks, providing better capacity and seamless roaming capability, says the Corporation’s planning and projects manager Simon McGinn.

The City of London is offering complementary WiFi to attract and retain businesses, maintaining the capital’s position as a global financial centre.

McGinn says there are potential cost savings for businesses exploiting the new network, through applications such as voice over IP (VoIP) telephony.

The WiFi platform will provide greater flexibility for City workers, allowing them to use communication devices between buildings. ‘For a trader, time is money and every second counts; walking from one building to another without dropping a VoIP call can add enormous value to a business,’ said McGinn.

The first network access point was launched last month, and completion is due by December.

Network provider The Cloud says the City network is secured with the WPA data encryption standard rather than the earlier WEP wireless security protocol.

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Further reading:

WiFi for Westminster

More power for broadband wireless