Virgin Media’s WiFi on London Underground delivered over eight million tweets, Facebook posts, emails and web pages during the London 2012 Olympic Games1 as visitors and Londoners went online to share their most memorable moments.
Olympic venues and central tourist destinations - Stratford, North Greenwich, West Ham, Covent Garden, Canning Town and Waterloo - were some of the busiest WiFi enabled stations as Londoners, ticket holders and tourists went online to check their teams’ latest medal win, re-live the photo finishes and find the best spot for lunch.
Wednesday 1 August was the busiest day2 for the new WiFi service as Tube passengers checked in on Team GB’s first Gold medals, thanks to Helen Glover and Heather Stanning’s rowing victory, and kept up with Bradley Wiggins as he rode to glory.
Kevin Baughan, Director of Metro Wireless at Virgin Media, said: “In an unforgettable sporting fortnight, WiFi on the London Underground delivered a world class experience and, just like the Team GB athletes, unparalleled speeds. Thousands of people signed up every day, sharing photos and keeping up-to-date with the latest Olympic moments and, even at very busiest stations, we’ve delivered a fantastic service.”
Gareth Powell, London Underground’s Director of Strategy and Service Development, said: “WiFi at Tube stations helped keep everyone moving and entertained throughout the Games with up-to-the-minute travel information and journey planners at their fingertips. It’s proving to be a great service and we expect it to be very popular during the Paralympics too. We look forward to continuing the roll-out and connecting up to 120 London Underground stations by the end of the year.”
Virgin Media is offering free, full internet access throughout the Games. After this, the comprehensive WiFi portal with TfL travel information, updates and London news and entertainment will remain free for all Tube passengers and Virgin Media broadband and mobile subscribers will continue to enjoy full WiFi access. In addition Virgin Media is giving mobile operators, internet service providers and others the opportunity to provide this service to their own customers on an ongoing basis and a PAYG service will ensure visitors and all Londoners can easily hop onto the internet.
WiFi from Virgin Media is already available in 72 London Underground stations with the roll-out due to start again after the Paralympic Games and reach up to 120 stations this year.
The number of people using the TfL website and the Get Ahead of the Games website was also very high during the Olympics period. The TfL website received nine million visits and 89 million page views. This includes 3.5 million visits and 24 million page views to TfL Journey Planner, 1.1 million visits and four million page views to Get Ahead of the Games and 2.3 million visits and 12 million page views to the TfL mobile site which is special version of the standard TfL website that can be viewed on a mobile or other hand-held device.
Virgin Media is the first provider of all four broadband, TV, mobile phone and home phone services in the UK.
The company’s cable network – the result of multi-billion pound private investment – delivers ultrafast broadband to over half of all UK homes, with speeds of up to 120Mb, as well as market leading connectivity to thousands of public and private sector organisations across the country.
Virgin Media has developed the most advanced interactive television service, bringing together broadcast TV, thousands of hours of on demand programming and the best of the web in a single set-top box powered by TiVo. The company was the first to offer HD TV and 3D on demand to millions of British households.
The world’s first virtual mobile network was launched by Virgin Media and it is also one of the largest fixed-line home phone providers in the country.
Virgin Media is a part of Liberty Global plc, the world’s largest broadband communications group. Together Virgin Media and Liberty Global serve 25 million customers across 14 countries, helping connect people to the digital world and enabling them to discover and experience its endless possibilities.