Liberal Democrats: free wifi for London

BRIAN PADDICK, the Liberal Democrat mayoral candidate for London, has vowed to provide free wireless internet access from all public spaces in London.

He wants to close the gap between the digital haves and have-nots, he said in a statement today. He also wanted to help the poor get computer access, he said.

Free wifi would be installed in public places in 10 inner-city London boroughs, he said. He didn't say which two inner boroughs would get left out, but we can assume that every sharp suited merchant banker in the City of London is using 3G already.

The other twenty London boroughs would only be given free wifi if a public consultation supported the idea.

He gave but an inkling of how he would pay for it, saying he would rope the private sector in to help the councils turn London into "the first wifi capital in the world".

Finding wifi in Greater London can sometimes feel like trying to find a conscience in the City. Starbucks charges £5 an hour for internet access in its shops. Should you want to support a local business, though, you can find one providing free wifi already if you look hard enough.

Look 'ere, for example: Free London Wifi - Mapped.

SuperPlod Paddick said he also wanted to pull people together to get computers to the digital have-nots. How long have people been pledging to do this? Olympic Ken and Bumbling Boris, the other mayoral candidates, were not available for comment. Neither was Starbucks.