BT has revealed plans to set up a high-speed wireless broadband network across Westminster, London.The company has reached a deal with Westminster City Council, making the area the first of an initial 12 areas earmarked by BT for the rollout of such services.The area covered includes the West End and the area around the Houses of Parliament.The City Council has signed an agreement with Vertex Data Science, which will work with BT to develop applications running over the wireless broadband network. In addition to the council’s service, BT will expand the network to offer extensive wireless broadband coverage in most areas of the city in the next couple of years. BT has said it will introduce the first 12 Wireless Cities by the end of March 2007. Westminster is furthest advanced with its plans and rollout of the street-based network, following a successful pilot. The parts of the network that do not support council services will be funded by BT.Steve Andrews, BT Group chief of mobility and convergence, said: “Westminster has been at the forefront of this project, and the City Council has enthusiastically grasped the benefits of a wireless city for the council, businesses community and residents. Flexible working will help them and their large mobile workforce to get the most out of the wireless network. “The project is part of our strategy to ensure customers are always best connected, wherever they are and using whatever device they want. When we launch Wi-Fi phones for BT Fusion shortly, there will be whole areas of many cities where customers will be able to make calls and access their personal or business applications whilst on the move.”There’s a Big Brother element to the plan, according to councilor Colin Barrow, of the Westminster City Council: “This will allow us to deliver our goals for community safety by supporting a more flexible and adaptable CCTV network.”-Jonny Evans, Macworld.co.ukRelated Links: BT Touts All-IP Network Benefits to Businesses BT Connects First Customers to All-IP NetworkCheck out our CIO News Alerts and Tech Informer pages for more updated news coverage. Related content brandpost Sponsored by Freshworks When your AI chatbots mess up AI ‘hallucinations’ present significant business risks, but new types of guardrails can keep them from doing serious damage By Paul Gillin Dec 08, 2023 4 mins Generative AI brandpost Sponsored by Dell New research: How IT leaders drive business benefits by accelerating device refresh strategies Security leaders have particular concerns that older devices are more vulnerable to increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks. By Laura McEwan Dec 08, 2023 3 mins Infrastructure Management case study Toyota transforms IT service desk with gen AI To help promote insourcing and quality control, Toyota Motor North America is leveraging generative AI for HR and IT service desk requests. By Thor Olavsrud Dec 08, 2023 7 mins Employee Experience Generative AI ICT Partners feature CSM certification: Costs, requirements, and all you need to know The Certified ScrumMaster (CSM) certification sets the standard for establishing Scrum theory, developing practical applications and rules, and leading teams and stakeholders through the development process. By Moira Alexander Dec 08, 2023 8 mins Certifications IT Skills Project Management Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe