Orange sign with The Cloud for extended Wi-Fi coverage.

Orange recently signed a contract with The Cloud, Europe’s leading wireless broadband provider. The agreement will enable Orange customers to take advantage of The Cloud’s network of thousands of WiFi hotspots across the UK. As a result of this deal with The Cloud, Orange will now offer access to one of the UK’s widest WiFi networks through its Orange WiFi Access service.

“Our business customers want easy-to-use, secure communication. They are less worried about who owns the infrastructure and naturally more interested in a service that works effectively. Partnering with The Cloud enables us to extend our high quality service to thousands more locations in an instant,” said Anthony Keyworth, Director of Products, Orange Business Services.

Orange already has WiFi agreements in place with BT OpenZone, and this latest agreement extends Orange’s WiFi access to more than 10,000 hotspots.

The Orange WiFi Access can be accessed through Orange’s Business Everywhere mobile data card offering. This service includes a single datacard that can access several of the WiFi, HSDPA, 3G, EDGE, GPRS and 2G networks available, automatically choosing the fastest connection possible. WiFi connectivity will be bundled in some of Orange’s new Business Everywhere plans in order to give users maximum flexibility for usage in the UK and abroad.

Owen Geddes, Director of Business Development at The Cloud, commented: “Orange’s commitment to WiFi demonstrates the importance of this technology to business customers who need fast, convenient access wherever they are. We’re delighted that Orange will now be able to offer WiFi connectivity through The Cloud’s unparalleled UK footprint which includes train stations, hotels, airports and major sporting venues.”

Earlier this year The Cloud switched on Europe’s most comprehensive and advanced WiFi network across the entire of the City of London, giving the 350,000 people who work in and visit the area high speed wireless broadband access across the City.

iPhone for £720!

T-Mobile in Germany will allow customers to buy Apple's new iPhone without having to sign up to a T-Mobile contract. This is after Vodafone a rival mobile phone company obtained a court injunction against it.

The catch is that the contract-free handset comes at a very steep price of 999 Euros that's £720! Customers who buy the unlocked phone will also have to pay for an airtime contract with their provider, racking up the cost even further.

A German court granted Vodafone a preliminary injunction this week preventing T-Mobile from locking the iPhone's SIM card to T-Mobile.

Before the German court injunction, customers who wanted the iPhone had to sign up to a 24-month T-Mobile contract costing a minimum of £845 in order to buy the phone.