Scottish canals welcome speedy wireless surfing

From the Bowling Basin in the Lowlands to Dochgarroch East, the thirteen hotspots provided and managed by BT Openzone will provide easy to use Wi-Fi connectivity. The coverage along the Caledonian, Crinan, Union and Forth & Clyde canals, will give a robust, quality internet service to areas, including the Scottish Highlands, which have previously have been known to experience patchy mobile reception.

The Caledonian Canal in particular has over 1,300 transiting boats each year, half of which sail from Scandinavia and Northern Europe. An additional 24 million annual visitors also visit Scottish canal towpaths. These outdoor enthusiasts will now be able to check emails, log onto their corporate network, send their holiday snaps and make VoIP calls to family and friends back home from any Wi-Fi enabled device.

Richard Millar from British Waterways Scotland said: "We are pleased to be able to offer our customers this additional service at various locations on our canals. These new services will greatly benefit everyone who visits, lives or works close to the canal. The introduction of high speed internet access across Scotland’s canals further demonstrates our commitment to making Scottish canals accessible to all and is part of an on–going strategy to open up the canals to more users. These Wi-Fi hotspots will widen the opportunities the canal has to offer our users and services we provide."

Chris Bruce, BT Openzone general manager, said: "BT has a strong affiliation with the sailing through our support of Dame Ellen McArthur and the BT Global Challenge. We also deliver Wi-Fi access to another 35 coastal and inland marinas in the UK and Jersey, and BT Openzone was available to visitors to this year’s Plymouth Transact. We’re delighted to offer Wi-Fi to Scotland’s sailors."