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Living in the Wi-Fi city

Although general Internet surfing in Westminster will mean paying the operator (BT), accessing public services will be free -- a model that is expected to be followed in most places.

But the impact of digital divide extends further than this. On a basic economic level, many items are cheaper online than on the high street, so a further advantage is gained by those with Web access. The Internet also makes it possible to set up a small business with negligible overheads or to advertise services online and, if you are physically disabled or house-bound, connectivity can be an economic lifeline. The nation's economy would, of course, also benefit from the financial gain of those who are currently excluded.

It must be said that the government has done a lot to make basic computer training part of schooling, and most children know their way around a computer. Yet even if subsidies meant citizens other than schoolchildren were able to access the Internet for free through municipal Wi-Fi, two key questions remain. The first is: what would they use to go online? "If you're socially disadvantaged then you probably don't have a laptop or a PDA, and it's a bit naive to think so", says Stephen Hearnden, director of telecommunications for Intellect UK -- the country's tech industry trade association -- but speaking here in a personal capacity. He blames government for not thinking "end-to-end", by pushing for deployment of free services and then "not thinking about how people have to buy facilities to use them".

Terminals in libraries are of limited use, suggests Hearnden, as "there aren't that many of them and they're quite a long way from where many people go". His view is that Internet cafes, which effectively offer a pay-as-you-go solution, are "probably better for less well-off people" at present.

BT's Dave Hughes agrees that terminals are necessary in order to include someone from "the other side of the digital divide". He does, however, add a further condition: "You also need a willingness. Wi-Fi access that's free at the point of use is just part of the overall package".

And this is the crucial part. Free Internet, even with subsidised terminals, is useless if they remain unused. Simon Hills, program manager for SustainIT (an initiative of the UK Centre for Economic and Environmental Development), tells the cautionary tale of what happened when BT gave certain community groups free PCs and a year's free broadband through an awards scheme -- but with no training.

"In a fair few cases, people weren't using it. They didn't know what to do with it," says Hills. "It was a typical case of technology for technology's sake".

Hills praises the contrasting approach taken by Islington Borough Council, which became something of a pioneer in the UK by rolling out the 'technology mile' (over two miles actually) along both well-off Upper Street and down-at-heel Holloway Road last year.

What was important in this case, says Hills, was that the council got community "buy-in" from the very start. It consulted the public, identified who needed and wanted the technology and gave it to them. The access issue was at least partially solved by a bus, containing six or seven terminals, which tours the neighbourhood offering a chance for less mobile citizens to get online. This approach, according to Hills, also "engages people around their interests and the things that are most important to them".

"Subsidies aren't going to be enough, unless you give people the skills and reasons to engage," says Hill. "If access is taken out to these people then it makes a real difference -- if it's targeted."

"I'm not sure how well this ubiquitous access thing is targeted".