Over 200,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych],000 residents in the borough of Camden will be able to access free Wi-Fi services from June this year, after the council signed a deal with network firm Arqiva to install services across the area.

The free Wi-Fi services were expected,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], following a V3 exclusive back in March when Camden council cabinet member for finance, councillor Theo Blackwell shared his plans for the borough,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych].

Arqiva will offer Camden's 212,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych],000 residents, businesses and visitors 30 minutes of free access on smartphones, tablets and laptops. Once this time has elapsed, additional access can be purchased, although the council did not give any pricing for this as yet. Access to Camden Council's own online services, though, will be free at all times.

The service will be rolled out from 1 June 2013 and is expected to be completed by the end of 2014 with south Camden to be the first area to go live,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych]. Camden Town, Kentish Town, Kilburn, Finchley, Hampstead and Belsize Park will follow.

Blackwell said the project would help make Camden "one of the most connected places in the country".

"This is great news for residents who will be able to access Wi-Fi services in public and open spaces. It will also be a huge benefit to businesses who will be able to trial new advertising techniques to better target their customers," he added.

Nicolas Ott,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], the managing director for mobile and enterprise at Arqiva, said the firm would use a raft of technologies to meet the requirements of the deal, including WiFi, 3G, 4G and small-cell technology to help meet the demand for connectivity.

Earlier this year, Arqiva came under fire for its tax-avoidance measures. This has not harmed its ability to win public sector contracts,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], however. On Monday, the firm announced a £150m government deal to provide rural mobile coverage.

V3 contacted both the council and Arqiva for more information on the project, such as the cost of the services after the 30 minutes had elapsed and whether the free time offered has to be used in one block, but had received no reply at the time of publication.

The announcement comes as Camden Council leads a wider project involving 16 other councils to provide free 30-minute WiFi services. It is not clear if this deal confirms that Arqiva will be involved in other projects on the back of this or if these discussions are still ongoing.

The Camden deal underlines the growing availability of WiFi in the capital, following on from similar services offered by O2 in the centre of London and on the London Underground by Virgin Media. To date 120 stations are now online with WiFi access.

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