Centre’s next for free wi-fi (From Swindon Advertiser)

Centre’s next for free wi-fi

8:08pm Wednesday 18th November 2009

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THE town centre is likely to be the next area of Swindon to get free wireless internet after Highworth.

The council has linked up with private firms to offer every resident in Swindon two hours worth of free internet access every day through newly formed company Digital City UK.

Rikki Hunt – who came up with the concept – is planning to host a workshop in Highworth to update residents and businesses about the scheme before it goes live on Monday, December 7. The free wi-fi network, which was announced on Tuesday and attracted national coverage, is expected to go live everywhere in Swindon by the end of April.

Mr Hunt said: “The launch was unbelievable – we were overwhelmed. I started to think about this three years ago, but you don’t realise the value of it until you start talking to other people.

“Clearly you get people who pick up on the negatives but 99.9 per cent were positive.”

After Highworth, Mr Hunt said he expects the wi-fi to be offered in the town centre before other wards. He predicts the £1m council-sponsored scheme will start to make money in February when some people upgrade after a three month trial.

He said: “I think there will be sceptics but we will prove we can do this.

“In the first instance we believe everybody is going to go for the free option. Those who use it a lot will realise it is very good and spend time deciding before they switch over. The challenge we have is getting people to switch suppliers.”

Residents will have to sign up for the free service and will receive a security code to gain access. Subscribers who decide they want more than two hours free access will have to pay. They can upgrade to 20mb and buy additional products, including CCTV and energy monitoring.

Mr Hunt and the council have teamed up with IT firm aQovia to offer the service, which will be delivered through 1,400 access points which will start to go up in Highworth in the coming days.

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