Virgin Media is testing out a new Wi-Fi service dubbed "Smart Pavement" which will bring speeds of 166Mbps - which is seven times faster than the current average of UK broadband speeds - to the people of Buckinghamshire.
The public Wi-Fi is being trialed in Chesham and the Smart Pavement service will be available for free to local businesses, residents and passers-by. The initiative is a joint effort of the Chiltern District Council and Virgin Media.
Virgin has a massive network of cabinets, access points and ducts all over the UK. The company now realizes the potential this network system packs and is looking to utilize it to offer free public Wi-Fi access that is not only speedy but also seamless.
"Not only is this the first time we've built metropolitan Wi-Fi directly from our street cabinets, it is also the UK's first deployment of a Wi-Fi-connected pavement. It is literally public Wi-Fi under your feet. We want to build more networks like this across the UK and encourage more forward-thinking councils just like Chesham to get in touch," noted Gregor McNeil, a managing director at Virgin Media.
The first-ever Smart Pavement in the UK basically deploys several Wi-Fi routers that have been installed by Virgin Media ingeniously underneath manhole covers. These routers are hooked to the company's fiber network which runs underneath the pavements and roads.
According to Virgin Media, the signal from each router is able to traverse a distance of nearly 80 meters, which is made possible by antennas that have been placed strategically. The older metal covers of the manholes have been replaced with "specially developed" resin ones for the purpose of avoiding signal interference or interruptions.
The Smart Pavement system is already going down well with the public and some people report download speeds that are as fast as 20MBs per second.
Still in the pilot phase, is not known if Virgin Media would be extending the Smart Pavement to other towns in the UK as well.
