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McDonald's finds London restaurants top Wi-Fi usage
London branches of McDonald's generate the most wireless internet usage.
The fast food giant's Holloway Road branch in the capital took the number one spot ahead of the outlet in Dartford's Priory Shopping Centre, while the McDonald's on Brixton Road came in fifth. Stores at Queensway and Earls Court also made the top ten.
According to the restaurant chain, 750,000 customers across the UK connect to the internet in its various branches since the introduction of free Wi-Fi connectivity in 2007, reports the Guardian.
Customer numbers have increased tenfold since the wireless broadband service was launched and have also doubled in the past 12 months.
Over the past four years, data consumption has risen to 500GB per day, equivalent to around six million emails.
Mark Fabes, IT director at McDonald's UK, commented: "Demand for Wi-Fi in our restaurants is growing at an incredible pace, to the extent it is now one of our most popular side-orders."
McDonald's is not the only company looking to capitalise on the seemingly rising popularity of wireless internet connectivity.
BT, which offers Wi-Fi services via its Openzone hotspots, announced in November 2010 that its network had reached two million access points following an installation at Charing Cross Tube station.
In the six months leading up to the introduction of the two millionth hotspot, the telecoms giant rolled out more than 780,000 Openzone points in order to cope with demand from users of laptops, smartphones, games consoles and other wireless-enabled devices.
Gavin Patterson, chief executive of BT Retail, declared at the time that demand for Wi-Fi connectivity was increasing at a "record rate".
The company offers its Total Broadband subscribers free access to its network of hotspots, which can be found at hotels such as Hilton and Ramada Jarvis, coffee chains like Starbucks and several other locations.