The Cloud (company)

Provider of public access Wi-Fi hotspots in the United Kingdom

This article is about the British public free access Wi-Fi company. For other uses, see The Cloud (disambiguation).

The Cloud

Company type| Division
Industry| Public access Wi-Fi
Founded| January 2003; 21 years ago (2003-01)
Headquarters|

St Albans, Hertfordshire

United Kingdom

Number of locations

| 22,000

Area served

| United Kingdom

Key people

| Vince Russell (managing director)

Number of employees

| 100
Parent| Sky UK
Website| www.thecloud.net

The Cloud is a provider of public access Wi-Fi hotspots in the United Kingdom and is a member of the Wireless Broadband Alliance.[1] It has over 22,000 Wi-Fi hotspots network access points in the UK.[2]

The Cloud has offices in St Albans, Munich, and Stockholm. The company is owned by the Comcast group through its subsidiary Sky Group.

## History

[edit]

The Cloud was founded in January 2003, and began roll-out in March of that year. BT Openzone was the first service provider on the network. The Cloud launched its integrated WLAN and 3G service in 2004. It became available in Germany and the Nordic nations in 2005. Later that year, it acquired Exilan. The Cloud Networks was selected as one of the World Economic Forum's New Class of Technology Pioneers for 2006.[3] Telenor partnered with the Cloud Nordic in 2006 to offer free Wi-Fi at public hotspots.[4]

Steve Nicholson became CEO of the company in 2007.[5] Between 2005 and 2008, The Cloud acquired German wifi providers GANAG, Airnyx and CANOVA Wireless.[6] In 2008, the company received €15 million in funding from Ferd Ventures, existing investors and GP Bullhound.[7]

In 2011, it was acquired by BSkyB.[8] Beginning in 2012, Sky began offering free wireless Internet to Sky Broadband customers in the UK via The Cloud [9] The Cloud became the exclusive free hotspot provider for Telefónica Germany later that year.[10] In 2012, Telefónica O2 UK discontinued free access to The Cloud for customers on unlimited wi-fi contracts.

## CEOs

[edit]

* 2003 - 2007: George Polk
* 2007 - 2011: Steve Nicholson
* 2011 - 2014: Vince Russell

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "About Us". The Cloud.
2. ^ "When in Roam". The Cloud.
3. ^ "World Economic Forum announces Technology Pioneers 2006".
4. ^ "Telenor signs partnership with The Cloud Nordic to offer WiFi access to its customers across 4 countries".
5. ^ John Colley. "Overhauling the Cloud". JBDColley.
6. ^ John Colley. "BskyB puts its head in the Cloud". JBDColley.
7. ^ "Venture funding for WiFi provider". Financial Times.
8. ^ "The Cloud to become part of the BSkyB Group". UK: The Cloud / BSkyB. January 2011.
9. ^ "Sky free wireless internet offer starts". Digital Spy. 19 April 2012.
10. ^ o2 starts offering The Cloud Wi-Fi to business customers, retrieved on 12 September 2011

## External links

[edit]

* Official website

* v
* t
* e

Sky Group

A subsidiary of Comcast

UK and Ireland|

| Channels|

* Challenge
* Sky Arts
* Sky Atlantic
* Sky Cinema
* Sky Comedy
* Sky Crime
* Sky Documentaries
* Sky Kids
* Sky Max
* Sky Mix
* Sky Nature
* Sky News
* Sky Replay
* Sky Sci-Fi
* Sky Showcase
* Sky Sports
* Box Office
* F1
* News
* Sky Witness

|

Defunct channels|

* Now
* Galaxy
* The Power Station
* The Sports Channel
* The Comedy Channel
* Sky Arts
* Sky 2
* The Movie Channel
* Sky Scottish
* Sky Soap
* .tv
* PremPlus
* Sky News Ireland
* The Amp
* Sky One
* Sky Travel
* Sky Real Lives
* Bravo
* 2
* Challenge Jackpot
* Channel One
* Sky Living
* Loves
* Sky 3D
* Real Lives
* Merit

Joint ventures|

* Sky Sports Racing
* A&E Networks UK
* History
* H2
* Blaze
* Crime & Investigation
* Ginx TV
* Paramount UK Partnership
* Comedy Central
* Extra
* Sky News Arabia

Defunct JVs|

* A&E Networks UK
* Lifetime
* Bio

Defunct magazines|

* Sky Magazine
* Sky Kids

Other|

* Amstrad
* Diagonal View
* Freesat from Sky
* On Demand
* Sky Sports Active
* Digibox
* Minidish
* Sky+
* HD
* Sky Q
* Sky Betting & Gaming
* Sky Broadband
* Sky Active
* Sky Go
* Sky News Radio
* Sky Store
* Sky Text
* Sky Vision
* Now
* The Cloud
* Open....
* Sky Multichannels

Germany and Austria|

| Channels|

* Sky One
* Sky Atlantic
* Sky Cinema
* Sky Krimi
* Sky Crime
* Sky Sport
* Sky Sport News
* Sky Sport Bundesliga
* Sky Sport F1

|

Defunct|

* Sky 3D
* Sky Arts
* Sky Select
* Sky Comedy

Other|

* Sky Store

Italy|

| Channels|

* Sky Uno
* Sky Arte
* Sky Atlantic
* Sky Cinema
* Due
* Sky Meteo 24
* Sky Primafila
* Sky Sport
* Sky Sport F1
* Sky Sport MotoGP
* Sky Sport 24
* Sky Calcio
* Sky TG24
* Cielo
* TV8
* Sky Documentaries
* Sky Investigation
* Sky Nature
* Sky Serie

|

Defunct|

* Sky Vivo
* Sky Show
* Sky 3D
* Sky Music
* Sky Radio

History|

* Timeline
* Criticisms
* British Satellite Broadcasting
* Sky Television (1984–1990)
* Living TV Group
* Former joint ventures & properties
* Australian News Channel
* Granada Sky Broadcasting
* Japan Sky Broadcasting
* Sky México
* Sky Brasil
* Stream TV

See also|

* Sky Campus
* Sky Studios
* Jupiter Entertainment (60%)
* Love Productions
* Sky España
* Sky Switzerland

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