Press & PR

London is the world's capital of Wi-Fi, with almost four times as many sessions as nearest competitor New York City.

This is the finding of a study from iPass, which found the English city to dominate the use of technology, despite growth in countries such as China and Australia.

And business users accounted for the lion's share of those taking advantage of Wi-Fi in order to access the web while mobile. Usage by such individuals surged by 68 per cent in the first six months of this year from the latter half of 2006.

Joel Wachtler, vice-president of marketing and strategy at iPass, said the results show that Wi-Fi is no longer a "novelty" and has become a "mainstream need".

"We are also seeing that use of hotspots is a global phenomenon, with the standard for growth being set in European and Asian countries."

One advantage of Wi-Fi is that it enables users to make cheap calls via VoIP rather than relying on their mobile phones.

You can make and receive calls on the go with the Vonage V-Phone. Small enough to fit onto a keyring, it acts like a fully functioning landline once plugged into the USB port of a broadband-connected PC. Perfect for students, travellers and businessmen on the move.

The Reading Evening Post recently reported that the town could be set for a Wi-Fi network in the near future.