Daily Hotspots for 04/12/2002

Reuters reported a few more details of British Telecom’s WLAN plan we thought worthy of sharing. BT plans to have 400 hot spots within a year, and 4,000 within three years. According to the news agency, BT stated that building the system would cost less than 10 million pounds per year. BT told Reuters that the WLAN would start operating its first sites in June. BT also said that it was in talks with Britains largest airport operator, BAA, coffee shop chain Costa Coffee, roadside restaurant and services operator Welcome Break, and other “leading retailers and property owners” about rolling it out. The Reuters piece also mentioned that BT plans to start with 802.11b, before adding Bluetooth, and then within 12 months would start upgrading its network to 802.11a.