When wireless broadband (WiFi) was first introduced in the early noughties, free access points were popping up all over the place. Now all the networks are locked down and access for an hour can cost more than your home broadband for a month.

Today we’re handling the launch of a company called Freerunner that provides free end-user access to wireless hotspots across the country.

Community-oriented venues, public spaces, libraries, transport hubs, community centres and schools, will receive the service completely free of charge. In commercial venues, such as coffee shops, pubs, clubs, restaurants and sports stadia, the free access will be largely funded by the venue and its partners. The advantage to commercial venues is that they pay for the service at just a third of the current rate set by other operators.

Freerunner is pledging to host 2,500 free public Wi-Fi hotspots by the end of Q2 next year starting in the North East.