Skype subsidises UK public Wi-Fi hotspots for next week's Internet Week

Like this, all over the UK, for a week. Photo by Wayda Dreamscape on Flickr. Some rights reserved

Sick of the fact that you need Wi-Fi but don't want to pay the hotspot prices for it? Well, just wait a few days. To celebrate the first-ever Internet Week Europe, Skype says it will enable free public Wi-Fi via Skype Access throughout the UK for the duration of the festival (8 – 12 November inclusive). And that's across the UK. (Though not, of course, hotels, as those aren't public. Though possibly if there are hotspots run by Skype Access partners, they will be. We're awaiting more information.)

The partnership "will allow everyone participating in Internet Week Europe, as well as the rest of the UK, to benefit from the festival's launch."

Internet Week Europe is festival dedicated to celebrating Internet organisations and culture, and is proud to bring over 80 events to London during the week as well as free Wi-Fi to the entire UK. (And, we'll point out, the Tech Weekly podcast will be attending some of the events to record items, so be nice.)

Internet Week Europe is all about the impact that the web has on our daily lives, from business to entertainment. What better way to celebrate that impact than partnering with Skype to make the Internet more accessible than ever," said David-Michel Davies, co-chairman, Internet Week Europe.

What better way indeed. Now the interesting question: how much is that going to cost Skype? If we know that, we may also get a handle on how widely used Wi-Fi hotspots are - especially given that there has always been substantial debate about whether the paid-for model is effective for passing users, or only effective if you sell them as add-ons to other services (in the way that BT's OpenZone often is).

It's not clear - reading the instructions - whether this really will apply to every public hotspot: some of the hotspots might be "not compatible", which might mean there isn't a licensing/revenue agreement. (You can see the full list of providers who already do deals with Skype for its existing Skype Wi-Fi Access system: they include BT OpenZone, The Cloud, Spectrum Interactive and plenty more.

We have asked Skype for their estimate on this (or hard numbers), but haven't heard back. We'll update if we do. In the meantime, you're very welcome to put your estimates (with reasoning, if you've got some spare) in the comments.

1. Make sure you have the latest version of Skype on your computer, laptop or mobile
2. Sign in to Skype and select an available public access Wi-Fi network. You'll get an automatic pop up message if the one you select is not compatible with Skype Access, so you can select another.

More information, including instructions on how to set it up, is available at http://www.skype.com/intl/en/features/allfeatures/skype-access/

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