By: MarkJ - 10 January, 2008 (9:17 AM)
Islington Borough Council is to extend its original 2006
Wi-Fi wireless broadband network, which covers 4km along two main shopping streets. The '
WiFi Technology Mile' project will now be expanded to provide free Internet access for 10,000 inner-London local authority houses:
By extending the service to local estates, the council aims to promote social inclusion by encouraging residents to boost their skills and broaden their prospects, said John Lowin, head of Islington’s technology solutions group.
“We are closing the digital divide by saying: ‘Why not put it on an estate?’” he said. “And we have discovered that having put it on the estates, it is widely used.”
Since December, the network has been serving Islington’s Canonbury housing ward, reaching 20 blocks comprising 10,000 homes.
The
Computing article also notes that Islington's network now claims to be the UK’s most widely-used wireless network.
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