To promote the new Huawei E5770 mobile hotspot, O2 has assembled the ‘GuyFi’ service – ‘a team of men of all shapes and sizes, employed to help bring free Wi-Fi to the beaches of Britain’ (well, Brighton and Southend).
Leading the human hot spots is British gymnast Louis Smith, who won a bronze medal at the 2012 Olympics.
The stunt follows research that says a third of seaside visitors want free internet access on the beach – combining the divisive ‘homeless hotspot‘ effort a few years ago during SXSW with this, a public health campaign offering free Wi-Fi on the beach (but only in the shade).
According to this release on the O2 site, Louis and the team’s hotspots can also charge phone batteries.