Blogs

Yesterday I took part in a Retail Week webinar hosted by David Brooks, Retail Weeks’ Deputy Projects Editor, with Antony Lea, Head of CRM at notonthehighstreet.com and Jim Davidson, Manager of Marketing Research at Bronto both on the panel. The main topics discussed were centred around online retail, leveraging data…

I recently read an article about the impact a brands social media activity can have on consumer attitudes, and I found it reinforced my view of how Purple WiFi can be used by brands to organically support their social media strategy: WiFi Hotspot Sponsorship. The UK Internet Advertising Bureau recently…

The top Australian tourist body, Tourism Australia is campaigning for all Australian hotels to offer free WiFi and end expensive in room internet access. They are not lobbying to cut costs for tourists though, their main aim is to encourage tourist to share their stories and photos with friends on…

The trend for whole cities to be covered by free WiFi continues, under the UK government’s ambitious plan to create 10 ‘super connected cities’. Manchester City Council recently announced details of their plans to cover 130 public places and transport by spring 2015. £440,000 of £10.74m from the Urban Broadband…

For most technically-minded individuals, a trip to a local computer shop is a fairly routine exercise. For others, it may be a less frequent but still necessary journey to pick up those various technical devices we have come to depend on. Personally, I always drop by the networking section of my local…

This week, US based Comcast announced a neighbourhood hotspot innovative, which sees Xfinity customers adding an extra SSID to their home WiFi. As well as their own private home signal, customers routers will now broadcast “xfinitywifi” which will allow friends, visitors and potentially passers-by, the opportunity to get online for free.…

The WiFi industry has been awash with excitement and anticipation around what Hotspot2.0/Passpoint from Wi-Fi Alliance and Next generation Hotspot from the Wireless Broadband Alliance. That has taken a massive leap forward with the (unannounced) inclusion in iOS 7. From a user of WiFi  Hotspots the difference will be stark…

A guest blog post by Lina Arseneault, Senior Director of Marketing at AirTight Networks Since its debut in 2003, The Wall Street Journal’s D: All Things Digital conference has been breaking news and highlighting innovation by providing straight-up, unvarnished conversations with the most influential figures in media and technology. D creators and…

Susie Hargreaves, CEO of the Internet Watch Foundation, blogs on how and why to report online child sexual abuse content. There has been significant debate in the media and parliament recently about how to fight online child sexual abuse images. From what tactics have been used to what more could…

How much will it set you back if you want to get online before you get on-board in the UK? New research from Airport Parking and Hotels (APH) has shown the high price of  WiFi in UK airports. The research surveyed the UK’s largest 25 airports. 15 of those surveyed…

Thai mobile telecoms company, Dtac has turned pets into moving WiFi hotspots to promote its new moving WiFi service. The pets were attached with a small router on their collars and set out onto the streets, for those nearby to log on. Dtac faced the challenge of creating an innovative…

Google plans to bring high speed WiFi access to over a billion people living in remote areas in Africa, using high altitude balloons which transmit signals across hundreds of miles. Google is currently running a high speed fibre network in remote areas of the US, including Utah, Missouri and Texas.…

“Since installing Purple WiFi, the feedback from customers has been very positive as they can surf the net, catch up on emails or simply update their social networking pages while their kids play, and the social media element means we can keep everyone updated on what is happening at each…

Sponsorship is vital to businesses that rely on brand exposure and front of mind awareness. Yet surprisingly, the only major brewery sponsoring WiFi hotspots in the UK is Heineken, with the sponsorship of BT Openzone Hotspots in over 200 pubs and bars, branded as the ‘Heineken Hub’. The service is…

At the recent Mobile Retail Summit in London some 300 attendees from a diverse range of retailers (including major supermarkets, department stores and multi-outlet retailers), suppliers and technology innovators came together to discuss the rapidly changing retail sector, as it tries to respond to evolving consumer behaviour, particularly around the…