WooHoo!! Free WiFi in Town

TequilaMockingBird

Sligo To Be Ireland’s First Free WiFi Town

SLIGO is set to be Ireland’s first free WiFi town. It is intended that tourists, visitors and residents will soon have free wireless-free access to email and internet in the town centre. The move aims to encourage an increase in visitors and stimulate spending in shops, cafes and restaurants.

The initiative is one of the first ideas starting to bear fruit from a major public meeting in Sligo, in early March. The meeting was attended by more than 150 people — business leaders, shop owners, trade unionists and townspeople.

The Save Our Shops (SOS) forum, called by Phelim O’Neill, of the Fair Dealer Campaign, and the Council of Trade Unions, heard a wide range of views on Sligo’s economic challenges and sparked a number of ideas for fighting back. At that meeting, Free WiFi was one of the proposals,made by David O'Gara, who was impressed by the free service experienced in Lithuania's capital city, Vilnius. “Free WIFI would be a huge boost to business in town,” said a spokesperson for the SOS Action Group. “This initiative will allow us market Sligo throughout the country as Ireland’s WiFi capital. This will attract people and business to the town and will be of great benefit to the local economy.”

Local broadband provider Fastcom have put a proposal to the Action Group which would envisage transmitters being positioned on lamp-posts throughout the town centre. They are a uniform distance apart, have access to electricity and can be erected with the approval of the borough’s engineers. Mayor of Sligo Jim McGarry is supporting the move to use borough lamp-posts. He is one of five people elected by the public meeting to the Action group charged with progress the meeting’s ideas.

The other members are Phelim O’Neill founder of the Fair Dealer campaign, Fergal Burke, president of Sligo Chamber of Commerce, Hugh MacConville, Sligo Council of Trade Unions and Brian Feeney, chief executive of the Sligo Weekender and Western People newspapers. For ease of reference, the working group is calling itself Save Our Shops (SOS) action group.

Progress on the free WiFi plan will be discussed at a second public meeting in the Glasshouse Hotel, Sligo, on Thursday, April 15.

Other initiatives being implemented

Making Sligo bloom, adding a splash of colour to our streets and spreading a little “love” are just some other ideas being implemented to energise Sligo.

An invitation is being extended to everyone in Sligo to attend a public meeting at the Glasshouse Hotel, Sligo, at 8pm on Thursday, April 15, where people will be updated on action points. Ideas being implemented include:

Blooming Sligo: A scheme to encourage businesses to use hanging baskets. Discussions are ongoing with a company to provide and maintain the flowers.

Mystery shopper: A national retail audit company is conducting a survey of some 25% of shops in Sligo.

http://www.sligotoday.ie/details.php?id=8406

bobcar61

This is great news.

It will make it so much easier to spot boardsies at the next beers whenever there is one. Everybody will be in the pub on their laptops:P

Basq

Good Christ.. think of the bandwidth they'll need!

If they put it in the centre of a heavy populated area, you might as well being GPRS / WAP, it'd be faster!

It might work.. but I wouldn't be sure.

Mint Sauce

bobcar61 wrote: »

This is great news.

It will make it so much easier to spot boardsies at the next beers whenever there is one. Everybody will be in the pub on their laptops:P

or with our wifi enabled phones



theres another beers night, yay, we could just go somewhere which already has free wifi, rather than wait on the coco to provide it, might be waiting along time for them

blackiebest

Great news indeedit! I think how it is going to work is that everyone will be able to access free wifi within the town area. This will be limited however to browsing and email etc.

Somthing along the lines of this;

"Trailblazing Swindon Borough Council is working with the private sector to make Swindon the first town in the UK to provide free internet access for all its residents.

The Council has teamed up with the concept’s originator Rikki Hunt and digital technology firm aQovia to create the company Digital City UK, which under the brand name ‘Signal’, will install a Wi-Fi wireless mesh covering the whole of the Borough of Swindon.

The exciting technological revolution is Swindon Borough Council’s first public/private commercial venture and will provide a range of services and applications for the whole community including free connection to the internet, free line rental and connection charge, and borough-wide movement, while staying online. The public will be able to access the internet and download emails for free but usage will be limited.

Subscribers will also be able to sign up for 20Mb upgrades for significantly less per month than major broadband competitors following a free three-month trial, while there will be pay-as-you-go options so visitors to the town can benefit from the Wi-Fi network.

Rapid response

The technology will also revolutionise home and business security courtesy of CCTV coverage with rapid response, allowing homes and businesses to be monitored via a control room or remotely using laptops.

Anti virus software and Microsoft and Google online services will be a key feature of the network and there are plans to deliver valuable real-time information on home electricity usage and street-wide air quality monitoring. Swindon’s Wi-Fi also has the scope to deliver free voice calls and could be used by health professionals to carry out consultations and remote medical procedures or examinations through Telemedicine.

The Wi-Fi project will be run by Digital City UK Ltd, of which Swindon Borough Council has a 35 per cent share, with the intention of working on similar roll-outs of the technology in other towns and cities across the UK.

The first phase of Swindon’s Wi-Fi network will be switched on in Highworth in early December with the remainder of the project being completed by the end of April.

Rod Bluh, Swindon Borough Council Leader, said: “This is a truly groundbreaking partnership which will have real benefits for everyone living in Swindon.

“Not only will residents in the Borough be able to access the internet for free, the Council and its partners will be able to use the technology to provide cutting edge services to the areas or individuals who need them.

“Digital City will also provide the Council with a unique funding stream and it is our intention to use our expertise to help other local authorities follow our lead.”

Fantastic opportunity

Rikki Hunt said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for the whole of Swindon creating total social inclusion through our free service and, while others talk, Swindon is delivering a Digital City which will benefit both the public and business communities.”

Mustafa Arif, director of aQovia, said: “Ubiquitous wireless internet is essential to the realisation of a ‘Digital Britain’. Sadly the city Wi-Fi hype died out a few years ago with scant examples of any sustainable networks.

“Digital City’s business model is built around subsidising free access with revenues from business and community services that are delivered over our wireless network. This innovative partnership demonstrates a viable way forward for other towns and cities.”

Anyone wishing to find out more about Swindon’s Wi-Fi network can log onto www.getsignal.co.uk
"

Now atm I have no idea what Fastcom have proposed but it would really be great if they give a proper service and this promotes Sligo as a technology hub wthin Ireland. We have the talent here and if we can drag the powers that be into the tech age. If we get free wifi and a loo then the meeting will have been worth it!

I hope some of you go to the next meeting, we need to make our voices heard!

rh5555

So can I just get rid of my internet connection and use the free one? - lol. I think they probably do some heavy traffic shaping. I just can't imagine they let VOIP calls or P2P data through but who knows.

Also FASTCOM claims they have no DL limit so that would be a nice test.:D

UrbanSea

I actually hope it happens,not like one of those suggestiongs that look great and never happen. Or that it doesnt take 40 years to introduce,like everything in sligo.

blackiebest

rh5555 wrote: »

So can I just get rid of my internet connection and use the free one? - lol. I think they probably do some heavy traffic shaping. I just can't imagine they let VOIP calls or P2P data through but who knows.

Also FASTCOM claims they have no DL limit so that would be a nice test.:D

Well, depending on what you use your connection for then yes, you can. I see a situation where EVERYONE within the covered area will be able to access broadband for free. You may be subject to a welcome page with adverts etc on it but essentially this concept is to provide the 'utility' for free, within an area, i.e. Sligo Town.

You see I think broadband should be treated as a basic utility. Everyone should have access to it and depending on location and usage, much of it should/could be free! If I download a movie illegally, that does not mean I do not want to pay for it, I do, I just do not want to pay for Xtravisions rent or their staff! When you rent a movie made by, for example, Scorcese, for 4 euro, how much of that 4 euro goes to the film-maker? Same goes for music etc.

We are all paying appx 40 e per month for what is often a crap service. This does not make sense, not because the service is often crap but because the technology does not require all of us to get ripped off. They will WI Fi the entire town for less than 100k. Eircom might not be too happy but Fcuk them! If we, the population saw Broadband as a basic utility then we would treat it as such. At the moment it is percieved as a luxury, akin to sky tv. Have a read (or listen audiobook) to http://www.futureofmusicbook.com/buy-the-book/
It is a fasicinating read, especially if you consider it was written in 2005!

Essentially I believe that in 2020 every city/town/village in Ireland wil have free wireless access available to all. The technology and hopefully the will is here, in Sligo, now! It will be great if we steal a march, for once, on the rest of the country and implement this technology now!

Get behind the idea, talk about it to your mates, help make it happen. It will/could be instrumental in our future as a town!

Also worth a read http://www.govtech.com/dc/371846

starbelgrade

One day we might even see businesses in Sligo have their own websites.

Basq

starbelgrade wrote: »

One day we might even see businesses in Sligo have their own websites.

** cough ** PLUG! ** cough **

Ah no.. I'd assume it'll be partly-funded by businesses around town so you'll be browsing Facebook and you'll have a banner advertising EJ's or Fiddlers etc.

It's a good idea.. but as someone in IT / Networking, it needs to be seriously thought out and planned, or it'll be abused and / or un-usable.

I kinda wish Eircom put in a proposal instead of Fastcom - I'm not their biggest fan at all!

bobcar61

So much for plugging a website that you can only see the homepage of "What we do", I can't see the contact or about us section:P

Sometimes when your surfing the net and facebook adds for Markree Castle pop up on the right hand side.

If Sligo does become Irelands first free wifi town I cant imagine the service been reliable, I'd imagine a lot of disconnecting etc..

Basq

bobcar61 wrote: »

So much for plugging a website that you can only see the homepage of "What we do", I can't see the contact or about us section:P

Quiet you.. it's a work in progress! :pac:

Am too busy with other websites to work on my own!

bobcar61 wrote: »

If Sligo does become Irelands first free wifi town I cant imagine the service been reliable, I'd imagine a lot of disconnecting etc..

Well.. if it's Fastcom in charge of it, that's a given!

AlmightyCushion

basquille wrote: »

** cough ** PLUG! ** cough **

Ah no.. I'd assume it'll be partly-funded by businesses around town so you'll be browsing Facebook and you'll have a banner advertising EJ's or Fiddlers etc.

It's a good idea.. but as someone in IT / Networking, it needs to be seriously thought out and planned, or it'll be abused and / or un-usable.

I kinda wish Eircom put in a proposal instead of Fastcom - I'm not their biggest fan at all!

I have the same reservations as you. It's going to be hard to do right and it's going to be expensive. All that bandwidth doesn't come cheap. Plus it's using wifi which is great for using your laptop on your home network but for blanket coverage of a town it's not so great.
It's terrible at penetrating objects (Tee hee hee), just ask anyone who has an old house with big thick concrete walls how well their wireless router works in their house.

It has limited range. I imagine they'll be using the G standard because it's the most widely used so that means we don't get the better range of wireless N standard or the benefits of using the 5Ghz spectrum either.

It's used by everything (microwaves, bluetooth, wireless av senders, baby monitors) and these devices can saturate the spectrum as much as they like so plenty of interference to kill the range.

The 2.4Ghz spectrum that wifi works on is also absorbed by water so the more moisture in the air the less range it will get. Seeing as our skies seem to piss more than an incontinent person suffering from renal failure that's going to be a big problem.

So they'll need a lot of access points to get proper coverage of the town. They will add quite a bit to the initial cost. Plus they need to find somewhere to put them. It'll need power and they'll need to be relatively close together. Maybe streetlights would work as it fits the above criteria but the metal housing could affect the range. I imagine there is a way around that though. I don't know how much electricity an access point uses but having loads of them running 24/7 isn't going to be that cheap I'd imagine. Then there are the maintenance costs, that won't be cheap either.

Advertising will probably be used to recoup some money but internet advertising isn't worth a lot. Google adwords doesn't give you much but it's fire and forget. You set it up and let it work it's magic. Companies buying banner ads will bring in more but will require an ad sales team so will require more work. I'm not sure if there are companies you can outsource that to though. If there is then that would definitely be a plus.

Despite all the above, if there is enough work put in to this and there is enough people who actually know what they're doing involved then this can become a reality and I'd love to see this. It certainly wouldn't make me ditch my home connection (unless it's very close to what my home connection can do which I doubt) but I use my phone a lot when out and about and having wifi all over the town would be pretty damn sweet when I'm in town and need to fire off an email or check a few things online. Saying that seeing as fastcom are involved it has made me lose faith in the performance of the final product.

For the lazy: Wifi is awesome and very handy but for covering a town like sligo it has many disadvantages. It'll be expensive and advertising won't recoup all that much money. I'm not a fan of fastcom either.

AlmightyCushion

blackiebest wrote: »

We are all paying appx 40 e per month for what is often a crap service. This does not make sense, not because the service is often crap but because the technology does not require all of us to get ripped off.

I think you may need to change ISP. The broadband I have right now is certainly not crap (although the stupid modem router UPC provide most certainly is but luckily I may be able to fix that ) and when I had eircom broadband it was pretty good for the most part, worst thing was the speed (I was on the 3Mb package). There is plenty of good quality broadband in Ireland, still not enough mind.

LeBash

Ill eat last quarters Argos Catalogue if its usable.

3 months after they do it, Sligo will be Ireland most stressed out and Grey haired town in Ireland.