Mostly pubs, but Exeter is UK’s Wi-Fi Capital

SWINDON, UK -- Exeter has been declared the Capital of Britain’s Wi-Fi revolution in a new study by Intel to locate Britain’s technology hubs. Bangor is Britain’s second Wi-Fi city, while the gateway to the North, Newcastle, comes in third. The figures are on a per capita basis, which partially explains why London came in 33rd. And surprisingly, or maybe not, it’s over a pint that Britons are getting wireless, with more of the UK’s 3,000 Wi-Fi hotspots located in pubs than anywhere else. Hotspots are wireless Internet access points installed across the country in cafés, hotels, stations and other public locations.

Intel’s hunt to locate Britain’s ‘Wi-Fi Capital’ analysed the number of Wi-Fi hotspots per person in towns and cities across the UK to come up with the Wi-Fi League. The research was conducted to identify just how well Britain knows its Wi-Fi, as Intel embarks on a 222 date high street tour preaching the mobile technology mantra far and wide across the country.

The Wi-Fi Top 10
1. Exeter
2. Bangor
3. Newcastle
4. Loughborough
5. Oxford
6. Exmouth
7. Banbury
8. Cardiff
9. Portsmouth
10. Southampton

Intel has dubbed these top 10 towns and cities ‘Wi-Fi Hubs’, in recognition of their pioneering approach to the new technology, which enables people to get high speed Internet access without any wires or cables via public wireless hotspots in places such as cafés, pubs, train stations, hotels and motorway service stations.

Richard Ball, Head of Economy & Tourism, Exeter City Council commented: "Exeter is a thriving and progressive city. We're thrilled to have been named Britain's Wi-fi Capital -- it's a real bonus for the people of Exeter, for business and for tourism."

Although London predictably has the most hotspots in the UK, second only on a global scale to New York, its huge population means that respectively it has a low per capita hotspot count, placing it 33rd in the league, just above Luton and Stafford. Britain's second largest city Birmingham makes it in at 57th place with a large population but a smaller number of hotspots.

Wales should be renamed the Wireless Valley with two entries in the top realms of the Wi-Fi League -- Bangor and Cardiff. Scotland too is pushing the Wi-Fi boundaries with two cities making it into the Top 25 -- Edinburgh (21) and East Kilbride (24), with Glasgow catching up at number 38.

Intel Centrino mobile technology allows people to access the Internet and send e-mails at hotspots without having to worry about cables or connecting to a phone line. It has been specifically designed to deliver an outstanding mobile experience for laptop users, and is ushering in a new generation of highly portable slim and light PCs, which also enable long battery life and great performance.

Pubs are spearheading the new generation of wireless Brits, with over 1,300 laying claim to verified Intel Centrino mobile technology hotspots. Alongside cafés, railway stations and airports, hotspots can also be found at some more surprising locations including Nottingham Forest FC, Daniel Galvin’s (a London hairdresser) and every single bedroom at the Swindon Marriott hotel.

Intel determined a Global Wi-Fi City Top Ten by analysing the ten countries with the most hotspots around the world, and in turn their cities with the highest hotspot count. Of these New York leads the way in terms of hotspots per person with Taipei a close second and Vienna leading Europe in third place. London with its high population is in fifth place, behind Melbourne.

The Global Wi-Fi Top Ten
1. New York
2. Taipei
3. Vienna
4. Melbourne
5. London
6. Paris
7. Stockholm
8. Vancouver
9. Hamburg
10. Tokyo

"From buying a latte to enjoying a pint down the pub, Wi-Fi strongholds are springing up in the unlikeliest places as the nation gets into hotspots," said Andrew Allison of Intel. "It is Intel’s vision to unwire Britain by 2005 and already the UK is staking a strong claim in the global wireless revolution as more Brits use more hotspots in more places all over the country.

Intel’s Wi-Fi League research is based on definitive data on the number and location of wireless hotspots in the UK and abroad, as of October 2003. The primary data source used was Intel’s online hotspot locator at www.intel.com/go/hotspots that lists all public hotspots verified on Intel Centrino mobile technology and was recently rated as "the most comprehensive Wi-Fi locator Web site’ by the Wall Street Journal. Only hotspots within 3 miles of the centre of each town were counted. This data was then cross referenced with population statistics as supplied by the National Census 2001 to determine the Wi-Fi saturation index.

The Intel Global Wi-Fi Top Ten was compiled by looking at the ten countries with the highest number of wireless hotspots according to data that lists all public hotspots verified on Intel Centrino mobile technology. In each of the ten countries the city with the highest number of Wi-Fi hotspots was found and the data compared to the city’s population to determine the Wi-Fi saturation index.