O2 UK has launched a Wi-Fi service that can be used by anyone regardless of whether you are an O2 mobile customer or not. The new service is called O2 Wi-Fi.

There will be no cost incurred for O2's Wi-Fi usage but users will have to register. There will be no need for existing O2 customers to register as they will be automatically included.

O2 will  initially replace 450 Wi-Fi hotspots which are sited in O2 retail stores.

O2 currently offers Wi-Fi to some paying customers via BT Openzone and The Cloud. However, O2 will now go it alone with their expansion plans.

By 2013, O2 will then increase two-fold the number of Wi-Fi hotspots it currently offers via The Cloud and BT Openzone. The Wi-Fi hotspots will be rolled out typically in shops and restaurants and high footfall outdoor areas.

O2's New Business Development Director Tim Sefton said: "Building networks is a core capability. We have pioneered the explosion of mobile data over the last three years and know better than anyone where people are accessing data. O2 Wifi hotspots will bring high quality public Wi-fi access to the majority of mobile users.