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Vodafone Virgin Media London Underground

EE and Vodafone sign up as partners for Virgin Media’s WiFi service on London’s Underground

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By Ishbel Macleod, PR and social media consultant

November 21, 2012 | 3 min read

Virgin Media has today announced that EE and Vodafone have been signed up as wholesale partners of its WiFi service on the London Underground.

As the service rolls out to Virgin Media, Vodafone and EE customers, Virgin Media will also launch a Pay As You Go service with daily, weekly and monthly passes starting from £2 per day.

Jon James, executive director of broadband at Virgin Media, said: “WiFi on London Underground has been an incredible success with over 700,000 people already online and a remarkable million sessions every day. We’re rolling out the service to reach even more stations throughout London, from Camden Town to Clapham Common and, thanks to our partnership with EE and Vodafone, the majority of Tube users can stay connected for no extra cost. We’re delighted that Virgin Media customers are making the most of our superfast fibre optic network, both at home with unbeatable broadband speeds and now with our ground-breaking WiFi service.”

72 London Underground stations are already WiFi enabled, with Virgin Media partnering with Transport for London to install another 20 Tube stations in December, with a further 28 stations due to come online early next year.

Pippa Dunn, chief marketing officer at EE, said: “It’s great that Orange, T-Mobile and EE mobile customers will soon get access to Underground WiFi included in their plan, at no extra cost. We know that our customers want the best and the fastest connections wherever they are - and with the largest 3G network and with 4G and Fibre on EE, we already offer customers superfast internet in the home, office and on the move. With Underground WiFi now they can stay connected on the London Underground as well.”

Srini Gopalan, consumer director at Vodafone UK, added: "We want to put the internet into people's hands wherever they are and that certainly includes major transport links. We already spend £1.8m a day on our UK network, giving our customers the depth and breadth of coverage that they expect whenever they need it, and we invested heavily in London ahead of the Olympics and Diamond Jubilee this summer. Now this deal will take us on a journey to the heart of the London Underground, ensuring our customers can stay connected even when they are beneath the streets of the capital.”

Gareth Powell, director of strategy and service development for London Underground, said: “WiFi is a great way to keep our Tube customers up-to-date with live travel information and other news and entertainment. We are delighted that Virgin Media is giving the majority of Londoners the chance to continue to enjoy WiFi at no extra cost next year and beyond.”

Vodafone Virgin Media London Underground

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