Internet mixes well with java beans

Pro

1 April 2005

Esat BT is setting up its BT Openzone wireless Public Internet network, in Insomnia coffee shops in Dublin. A public Wi-Fi network or ‘hotspot’ such as BT Openzone allows people on the move to access the Internet and to get a secure and fast connection to corporate networks, without plugging in to phone lines.

Insomnia claims to be the first coffee shop chain in the Republic of Ireland to offer a public Wi-Fi hotspot facility. There are now 45 BT Openzone sites on the island of Ireland since Esat BT unveiled its first wireless hotspot in Dun Laoghaire Harbour last January. With BT Openzone, users with either a Wi-Fi-enabled laptop or handheld computer can access the Internet or their corporate LAN at speeds of up to 500Kbit/s – almost ten times faster than with a standard 56k modem, allowing them to send and receive large quantities of information at broadband speed. Users need to be within an approximate 100-metre range of BT Openzone sites, which are clearly marked with the BT Openzone logo and signage. Users can pay for the BT Openzone service through either Pay-As-You-Go scratch cards which you can buy in Insomnia, or by a subscription which they can take out directly from Esat BT. The Scratch Card options are: Pay-as-you-go One Hour Pass which, for EUR10, offers one hour’s worth of usage within 24 hours from the first log-on; or Pay-as-you-go 24-Hour Pass, which for EUR24, offers unlimited usage within 24 hours of the first log-on.

The Esat BT Subscription option costs EUR120 per month and offers unlimited access. Esat BT has slashed the price of its monthly unlimited usage subscription by 50 per cent to EUR60 per month for customers who sign up to it before the end of December 2003. BT Openzone has already been installed in six Insomnia Coffee Shops located at Ballsbridge, Pembroke Street, Harcourt Hall, Stephen’s Green, Upper Baggot Street and in Hughes & Hughes’ Bookshop in Galway.