Wi-Fi 'the pits' as Grand Prix Café goes wireless

NEWS London eatery and Formula 1 theme bar Café Grand Prix has announced a scheme to fully Wi-Fi enable its entire premises, encompassing a café, restaurant and bar area. The 802.11b installation, being carried out by Kooku, will enable diners to check email and surf the internet, with the promise of 'broadband' connection speeds - a positive boon for London's population of business meeting-bound wireless workers, and further confirmation that the Wi-Fi revolution is well and truly upon us. The Mayfair venue is the latest in a string of hotels, coffee shops and even petrol stations to announce the move to Wi-Fi meaning the modern workforce is becoming increasingly mobile. Rick Skett, director and country manager for Intel UK & Ireland, whose Centrino chip is aimed at the mobile worker, believes this is a trend which all customer facing businesses will have to follow or risk getting overlooked. "It's not about ISPs or WISPs, it is about the private enterprise," said Skett talking at the Tech Summit in London last week. "Look at Texaco and Starbucks - why are they doing this? It's so people will stay longer. If I want to get a coffee then I'm going to go to Starbucks [rather than a rival chain] because I can get connected." So is this now a case that Wi-Fi should be as standard an offering as tea and coffee? Will bars, restaurants and coffee shops without Wi-Fi now see a dropping off in custom, or is Wi-Fi nice - but not necessary - to have? Skett believes Wi-Fi is here to stay and believes seeing people logging on to the internet over dinner and drinks will soon become as commonplace as seeing people take calls on their mobile phone at their table. Skett said: "You should draw comparison with the take-up of mobile phones. That is the kind of stage we are at now." Giselle Mastrosanti, general manager at Café Grand Prix, said in a statement: "This is a great opportunity to enhance our dining and conference facilities [and] provide our guests with instant plug and play wireless internet access allowing them to work away from the office while enjoying themselves at our Mayfair venue."