Wi-Fi on the Tube on track for 120 stations
Transport for London is nearing the end of its tender process for deploying Wi-Fi to a network of underground tube stations.
The scheme is scheduled to be ready and active ahead of the beginning of the Olympics in summer 2012 and will include 120 locations.
"London Underground is continuing with preparations to install the necessary infrastructure and is on schedule to complete the project as planned," Gareth Powell, director of strategy and service development, said in a Guardian report on Tuesday.
The tender process was supposed to be completed, with the chosen bidder being announced before the end of 2011 but is now expected to be in place by early spring. At the time, TfL said the service would be up and running by June in time for the Olympics.
In March, TfL said the rollout would begin with 16 stations that have a Wi-Fi intranet for staff. The organisation had not responded to a request for comment at the time of writing.
At the end of 2010, TfL conducted a six-month trial of Wi-Fi on the underground at Charing Cross station. The trial was run in conjunction with BT OpenZone.
Talks were also in place to provide mobile network coverage on the underground but fell apart in April 2011 due to "commercial decisions". Huawei was the front runner to provide the infrastructure for the mobile platform.
A spokesperson for Huawei told ZDNet UK on Wednesday that the company was not involved in the underground Wi-Fi project.