Potential sites to provide accessible public Wi-Fi
A project to provide freely accessible outdoor public Wi-Fi at visitor areas in West Sussex has taken a step forward with the contract awarded to make the scheme a reality.
Six potential sites have been identified by the County Council’s district and borough council partners to benefit from the Connected Spaces Wi-Fi Project.
They are: High Street, Arundel; areas within Tilgate Park, Crawley (central area, including the Walled Garden and surrounding businesses, plus the lake and main car park); Cuckfield Recreation Ground; Selsey’s East Beach; Steyne Gardens, Worthing and Steyning High Street.
The benefits and potential uses of the scheme
- Providing the Wi-Fi needed for electronic payments, both at permanent businesses and for traders attending scheduled events or markets
- Visitor use, and consumer-led social media promotion
- The live streaming of educational, business, and social events
West Sussex County Council on the project
Paul Marshall, Leader of West Sussex County Council, said: “We are determined to continue to help businesses in these challenging times, and this innovative project has a lot of potential.
“It is another example of how we are working with our partners to provide digital infrastructure to help boost the visitor economy, as set out in our Economy Plan. We hope it will help both established and emerging businesses to attract more customers.”
The Wi-Fi service provided under this project, once live, will be in place for a two-year term. The contract was awarded to networking specialist North (North PB Ltd) and the project is anticipated to cost a total of about £500,000.
