Swedish 3G operator Telia adds 7-Eleven stores to Wi-Fi network

By Esme Vos on February 6, 2009 in Consumer, Europe, WiFi Deployments

Telia, a Swedish cellular operator, has just added 7-Eleven and Pressbyrån convenience stores to its national network of Wi-Fi hotzones. Telia is working with Clue AB, which runs the Wi-Fi hotspots in convenience stores, to ensure that Telia customers can have Internet access in those locations. Wi-Fi traffic in Telia’s own Wi-Fi zones has increased dramatically (in 2008, traffic in Telia’s wireless Internet surf zones doubled, compared to the preceding year). The addition of these convenience stores to the Telia Wi-Fi footprint is welcome news to iPhone users who prefer Wi-Fi over 3G.

Indeed, in recent independent tests, Wi-Fi networks were shown to deliver almost three times better performance than cellular networks and materially better performance than pre-WiMax networks – with similar levels of availability of service over the promised coverage area for all three network technologies. The performance of Wi-Fi networks blew away 3G networks in uplink speeds. If you are uploading photos, video, audio or large document files, you will want to do it on a Wi-Fi network, not on 3G.

As more people acquire mobile devices that are capable of taking high-resolution video and photos, people will want high bandwidth networks for uploading (as well as downloading files). Unfortunately, most 3G and even Wi-Fi network operators will brag only about their downlink speeds. That’s because their uplink speeds are an embarrassing anachronism that belongs to a world long gone.

In the US, AT&T has made similar moves to ensure that iPhone users have easy and free access to the Internet by providing free Wi-Fi at Starbucks coffee locations. AT&T also acquired Wayport, a Wi-Fi hotspot operator in hotels and airports, for $275 million. AT&T has an incentive in offloading all that traffic from its congested 3G network to higher capacity Wi-Fi networks.

Use SMS to find the nearest Wi-Fi network

So how to do you find the nearest Telia (and partner) Wi-Fi network? Simply send an SMS with the Swedish word “surfzon” to 4499. Telia’s coverage map at www.telia.se also shows a map of its Wi-Fi hotspots. More information about Telia’s surf zones is also available at www.telia.se/surfzon.