London to get city-wide Wi-Fi network in time for the Olympics in 2012

The Olympic games coming to your city is a good motivation to upgrade the place – London’s mayor Boris Johnson agrees. He promises that before the 2012 Olympics begin, London will be one huge Wi-Fi hotspot…

Tim Berners-Lee invented the Internet and he was born in London – which is all the motivation Mr. Johnson needs to get all paternal over the Internet. His plan – attach a Wi-Fi hotspot on every lamppost and every bus stop. The project is called, wait for it, Wi-Fi London.

Now, access to the Wi-Fi networks won’t be free – unlike the town of Swindon, which aims to become the first UK city to offer its residents free Internet over a Wi-Fi network covering the whole town. Pricing details for Wi-Fi London are still to be announced.Anyway, project Wi-Fi London should be complete before the streets of the UK capital are flooded with people who have come to watch the Olympic games.

London’s mayor is also very excited about the Cycle Hire Scheme, which will allow Londoners to pick up a bike from one of many docking stations. The Scheme will come with an iPhone app, which won’t use Internet access, and will show you a map with the docking stations.

Anyway, project Wi-Fi London should be complete before the streets of the UK capital are flooded with people who have come to watch the Olympic games.

I know not every city can be like Mountain View or London (or Swindon apparently), but if more cities go with city-wide Wi-Fi networks, what would happen to 4G network adoption – how will the two networks co-exist?