Cambridge has rolled out a city-wide Wi-Fi trial, making it one of the first UK cities to do so.
The University of Cambridge and Connecting Cambridgeshire have teamed up in a bid to roll out free, public Wi-Fi across the whole city. This venture will see more than 20 new access points installed on street furniture or public buildings, including the Senate House and King’s Parade.
Whilst the scheme is currently being billed as a trial, local councillors are confident it will signal more such developments within Cambridge and around Britain as a whole. Among them was Cllr Lewis Herbert, who told techienews.co.uk how this scheme correlated with Cambridge’s global reputation for innovation.
“We want to enhance this by ensuring we are digitally connected, making sure people can access the internet on the go,” he added.
The Wi-Fi rollout was undertaken in order to ensure it was in place and ready for Cambridge’s hosting of a stage at this year’s Tour de France. As part of the Grand Depart, which sees the event’s opening stages moved to destinations across Europe. This year the event will kick off in Yorkshire, before moving down to Cambridge for a route south to London.
With the eyes of the cycling world on Cambridge, it was decided to provide all visitors with fast, free and secure Wi-Fi.
Cllr Steve Count told business-cloud.com: “Developing wider public access Wi-Fi and improving mobile coverage is part of the Connecting Cambridgeshire programme’s drive for better connectivity across the county, which is vital in an increasingly digital world.
“This trial paves the way for improving wireless connectivity across the city and beyond.”
