Cardiff County Council is to introduce free public Wi-Fi service across the heart of the city centre next month.
Free-to-access high speed Wi-Fi will be available cross the city centre, covering the key shopping areas including Queen Street, High Street, St Mary Street and The Hayes. For the initial promotion of the service, there will be no limit on the length of connection time.
The introduction of public WiFi is part of the Super Connected Cities Project, a partnership between the County Council and BT Wholesale which will build and manage the network, with wireless technology installed on the city’s lamp posts and other street furniture.
BT will make the network available to different mobile operators and WiFi providers, which will help in cutting down the numbers of macro cells, masts and access points being placed around the city.
The WiFi will be available to residents, businesses and millions of visitors annually and will initially cover the busiest areas for tourism, commerce and leisure, before being extended to the Cardiff Bay area in 2014.
Customers using the service will have limited free access after the initial free period. The unlimited free use will continue for BT Broadband customers.
Cabinet Member for Finance & Economic Development, Russell Goodway, said: “These wireless technologies will add to the huge investment in fibre broadband that BT has already made across Cardiff and give the city a real competitive edge when it comes to attracting new visitors and businesses.
“This will also significantly improve the speed, reach, strength and reliability of 3G and 4G mobile services that is offered to mobile and smart device users.”
Steve Haines BT Wholesale managing director for strategic business development, said:
“In return for building the network and managing it for ten years on behalf of the council, BT Wholesale will gain exclusive access to Cardiff’s lamp posts and other street furniture, allowing us to install new wireless and small cell technology.”
