Guardian UK: “With near-blanket coverage, no Brighton resident is more than 10 minutes from a free connection.

Want to see the future? Go to Brighton, where it is being created through a blend of anarchy and civic pride. A partnership between the free Wi-Fi movement and the local council has now delivered wireless broadband via a new WiMax service.
Almost the whole of Brighton is now blanketed by a wireless internet service that delivers data faster than broadband. It carries public sector, commercial and educational traffic – another first for the city. Schools have multi-megabits of data, businesses get the equivalent of high-speed leased lines, students have fast data in their dorms, and everyone gets free Wi-Fi in pubs and cafes.

The Brighton Metranet, as it is called, emerged after the council noticed the buzz surrounding free Wi-Fi. “Nobody in Brighton is ever further than 10 minutes from a free wireless broadband hotspot,” says Bill Parslow, head of ICT & e-Government at Brighton & Hove City Council. “This free Wi-Fi culture permeates the city and serves a real economic function, allowing free and easy access to the internet for mobile workers.”

Metranet
“Metranet is a wireless internet service provider for business operating in and around the city of Brighton & Hove. Using a technology which will become known as WiMAX, we have covered over 90{a9f0d31f6175b3e4775e11a66c07db268fb74408d6095f6b46eeec420c0e9f62} of Brighton & Hove with a massive wireless broadband infrastructure.”

Loose Connection – Free Wi-Fi hotspots!
“Our basic Wi-Fi service is FREE at all our hotspots. Wherever you see our logo displayed you can connect to our network. In most cases you just need to startup your computer and it will connect to the Loose Connection network automatically. Loose Connection Hotspots are Free to use and you don’t require a username or password.”

Thanks Al!