O2 announced that its mobile broadband customers will now have access to thousands of BT Openzone Wi-Fi hotspots. The partnership, which existing customers will see come into effect today, coincides with an upgrade to O2’s Mobile Broadband Connection Manager software, enabling users to manage their data consumption more effectively.

The deal with BT Openzone offers an additional 3,000 hotspots, and builds on the unlimited Wi-Fi all O2 mobile broadband customers benefit from.

Many of the new BT Openzone hotspots are in locations such as railway stations, airport lounges, conference centres and motorway service stations, as well as in Caffè Nero and Starbucks coffee houses, and Hilton hotels.

O2 will be upgrading its Connection Manager software, making it available from the end of July. The upgrade enables people to copy their laptop’s existing Wi-Fi profiles into the software during its initial installation. This should make it easier to automatically log onto home and work networks, according to O2. The updated version of the software only works with Windows for now.

The upgrade will also see the addition of a data counter, enabling users to monitor and control their data consumption more easily. The data counter will provide accurate usage information for individual sessions and link through to an overall usage page. To add extra peace-of-mind for consumers, an automatic notification will be sent to the Connection Manager when 75%, 90% and 100% of their data allowance has been reached.

Jonathan Earle, Head of Pay Monthly, said: “We appreciate that our customers want to get the most from their mobile broadband service and we continually look to provide value-added services for them.

“We are introducing two key changes. Firstly, expanding our Unlimited Wi-Fi proposition by introducing BT Openzone Wi-Fi hotspots allowing our customers to stay connected to the people and things that matter to them most. Secondly, we know that customers want to be able to track how much data they have used. Our simple data counter gives the control that our customers want.”