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The City of Perth has expanded its free public Wi-Fi network across the CBD, joining the likes of Canberra and Adelaide in offering wireless internet access to visitors and workers in the centre of the city.
After rolling out the first stage of its public Wi-Fi network build — a move that saw Perth claim the title of “the first Australian capital city to offer comprehensive Wi-Fi coverage” — phase two of the build has seen the network push further north into public areas of Northbridge, including Russell Square and the city’s Cultural Centre.
Built by Ruckus Wireless and Technical Services Group, the network now covers roughly 50 hectares, with outdoor access points mounted to public furniture and street lamps. The network has had more than 200,000 network connections over the past year with almost 25,000 devices connected to the network at any given time during September 2014.
Speaking about the network, City of Perth Lord Mayor Lisa Scaffidi said it was designed to support tourism and to “focus on activating public spaces”.
“Following the success and popularity of last year’s Wi-Fi deployment across Perth’s CBD, we wanted to extend the network to other parts of the city,” she said. “What makes our network special is its blanket coverage – users can now walk from the Bell Tower to Northbridge Piazza without being disconnected.”
Having already used the infrastructure as part of the TEDx Perth event and to stream the WA Symphony Orchestra’s ‘Symphony in the City’, The City of Perth plans “further expansion” to cover the majority of the Perth city centre according to Scaffidi.
City of Perth
