Wifi in courts

Most Crown and Combined courts across England and Wales now have wifi facilities in place, it was announced today.

Wifi has now been installed in 67 courts over the past three months to allow court users to take advantage of fast and convenient wifi in between court sittings.

However access won't be free, instead users will need to purchase vouchers or subscriptions from BT Openzone. Customers of BT Total Broadband can use their free inclusive wifi minutes to access Openzone hotspots in the courts as well as other hotspots around the country.

The installation of wifi facilities will help barristers and solicitors in England and Wales to utilise time between cases more effectively by providing wireless access to email, legal reference materials, and suitable office networks.

Wifi facilities will be available at signposted zones in most publicly accessible areas of the court. For a typical Crown Court this will cover the advocates assembly room, the jury assembly suite, witness waiting area, public concourse, and cafeteria (where available).

Her Majestys Courts Service has funded the provision of wifi facilities in the courts, and will receive a percentage of the revenue from BT Openzone.

The agreement to install the wifi network across the courts follows a successful installation and pilot of BT Openzone wireless access points across eight courts the Royal Courts of Justice, the Central Criminal Court (the Old Bailey), Southwark, Birmingham and Swansea Crown Courts, and Winchester, Leeds and Liverpool Combined Courts.

To find out which courts have wifi facilities installed, use the 'Facilities' link for individual courts on HMCS's website by clicking here.