A few weeks ago, Swindon (pop. 190,000) announced that it is rolling out citywide Wi-Fi service in partnership with Aqovia and Avity, two private companies that own shares in Digital City UK which will run the network. We have more details about the service. The network cost £1m to deploy and Digital City plans to recoup its investment by selling Wi-Fi access to residents and businesses. Prices: £8 per month for unlimited access at speeds up to 20 Mbps, but if all you do is use the network for no more than 2 hours per day, access is free of charge. The city will be using the network for services (not yet known which ones will go first, although I suspect CCTV and public safety will get priority).
Jim Baker says: This project seems to be running into some political trouble; questions were even raised in the House of Commons by a local Member of Parliament on March 22nd 2010.
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/debate/?id=2010-03-22a.98.2
There appears to have been some conflict of interest between Council members and directors of the companies involved, and much debate over the £450,000 public funding provided for the project. From what I can tell this is being resolved but there is local concern over ‘due process’. Just shows that projects like this will always attract criticism if (a) the due diligence is not executed precisely right and (b) public money is involved which people think could have been better spent elsewhere.