Rose Cantine

I am such a fan of free open Wi-Fi, but even that won’t get me into a McDonalds (I hate fast food in general). Nevertheless, it is a step in the right direction for European public hotspots which are still dominated by large carriers charging a lot of money for access. The Netherlands’ KPN offers Wi-Fi via its HubHop service, seems to be everywhere, including unfortunately the train stations. Swisscom Eurospot is also in a lot of hotels and charging piles of money.

Signs of change: the Stagecoach buses between London and Oxford, as well as the National Express between London and Cambridge, offer free Wi-Fi on all their buses (click here to read article on Muniwireless).

Now let’s see if other cafes, restaurants and public transport authorities follow. After all, their primary goal is to get butts into those seats. If Wi-Fi can help, then offer it as an amenity.