ABSTRACT
In November 2003, Broadreach, a London-based Wi-Fi Internet Service Provider (ISP), opened a free Wi-Fi ‘hotzone’ centred on Piccadilly Circus. This company is one of dozens currently seeking to commercialize Wi-Fi networks by offering pay-by-the-minute wireless Internet connections in various public and semi-public places such as railway stations, departure lounges, hotel lobbies, train carriages, service stations, fastfood restaurants, cruise liners, trailer parks, public parks and cafés (e.g. Abreu 2003; Glasner 2003; Smith 2004). In most cases, these services consist of a wireless access point providing high bandwidth Internet coverage up to several hundred metres for customers carrying a Wi-Fi equipped device (laptop, PDA, VoIP – Voice over Internet Protocol – mobile phone, etc.). In contrast to the more well-established and visible Internet cafés (Wakeford 2003; Miller and Slater 2000), customers use their own equipment and sit or move around according to what they are doing. By dissolving the physical connection of wires, Wi-Fi allows a re-positioning of some now mundane everyday practices associated with new media. Wi-Fi networks themselves are usually formed on an ad hoc basis, since people come and go, making and breaking connections to the network. Because of their limited coverage, these small networks are usually called ‘hotspots’.
