The Cloud, a BSkyB subsidiary, has agreed to extend its partnership with the City of London Corporation and will continue providing London’s Square Mile with unlimited access to its public Wi-Fi network.

The agreement was born out of a temporary arrangement between the two parties that saw the Cloud provide the Square Mile with access to free public Wi-Fi for the duration of the London 2012 Olympic Games. The Sky-owned service provider recorded an almost 100 per cent increase in users from the preceding three months, prompting it to remove its initial policy of placing a 15 minute time restriction on free access.

“The success of our free Wi-Fi service during the Olympics and Paralympics demonstrated that it’s a vital technology for visitors and shoppers as much as the City’s business community, so we’re pleased we can now make it available to everyone, especially at a time when other providers are switching to pay-for-use services,” said Vince Russell, managing director of the Cloud.

The Cloud launched its first hotspot in the Square Mile in 2007 and now operates 15,000 such access points nationwide. The City of London Corporation’s policy chairman asserted that the wireless provision is critical to the future progress of the business hub.

“The Square Mile is home to 10,000 residents, 400,000 workers, and five million visitors a year. As the world’s leading global financial and business centre, the City of London has one of the biggest concentrations of smartphones in the UK so having the best communications infrastructure in place to access vital information on the move is of critical importance,” he said.

“This partnership between the City of London Corporation and The Cloud will ensure that the Square Mile keeps pace with growing demand in a rapidly evolving technological landscape.”

Image Credit: Flickr (bluebus)