The Cloud is adding pub chain company Greene King to its list of partners, which will enlarge The Cloud's Wi-Fi network with 2,400 more venues.
The Cloud operates 10,000 Wi-Fi hotspots around the United Kingdom, half of which are already in pubs.
Greene King, founded in 1799 and said to be one of the biggest UK pub retailers, intends to provide free Wi-Fi access with no time constraints in all of its pubs, restaurants and hotels, including the Hungry Horse and Loch Fyne brands. The Cloud has already installed Wi-Fi hotspots in 300 Greene King pubs, and the rest will come online this summer.
"A huge increase in demand from customers recently has convinced the pub chain to extend The Cloud's Wi-Fi service from the 300 pubs installed since the start of the year to all 1,000 of its managed premises. In addition Greene King will also offer The Cloud's free public Wi-Fi to its 1,400 leased and tenanted premises as part of the same agreement, offering fast, reliable internet access to the growing numbers of its customers who own smartphones," said The Cloud.
More than 5 million MB of data were downloaded at the initial 300 pubs in April, said The Cloud, which revealed 57 percent of Wi-Fi users in the Greene King venues were on iPhones and 22 percent on other smartphones.
Peter Groves, group commercial director at Greene King, said the addition of Wi-Fi service has allowed the company's pubs to attract a wider audience across the day, including at traditionally quieter times, as well as providing the infrastructure for new services the company hopes will improve customer satisfaction and loyalty over the longer term.
Earlier this month, The Cloud announced that Land Securities, the U.K.'s largest real estate investment trust, would start deploying free Wi-Fi in 22 shopping centers and two outlet centers. The contract was the biggest deal yet announced between The Cloud and a commercial property company.
The Cloud is owned by British Sky Broadcasting Group, commonly known as BSkyB.
For more:
- see The Cloud release
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