Thames Online launched today, providing high-speed wireless internet access along the river Thames. The Register reported that the network stretches runs for 12km, “from Westminster to Greenwich”, which makes it the UK’s largest wireless network to date. The Thames Online site is more coy, and does not provide full details of its coverage area.

Not only is it the biggest network, but it’s one of the most affordable. T-Mobile’s hotspots in this country require users to pay a £23.50 monthly subscription rate before they use them; BT Openzone charge £40 for a month’s unlimited access. By contrast, Thames Online comes in at a very respectable £9.99 a month. Obviously the Thames network is operating over a more limited area, but it’s good to see a provider pricing wireless access not as a luxury, but as a commodity.

And there’s an added bonus for early adopters: Thames Online is entirely free until the 1st of April - time enough to find out just how far the network extends, and how quick it really is. It’s great to see an affordable public wireless network being launched on this scale in the UK. If more locations in towns and cities follow suit, it won’t be long before wireless is a standard part of urban infrastructure, just like street lighting before it.