GOWEX to Flood Newcastle and Gateshead with FREE WiFi Coverage

The visitors and residents of Newcastle and Gateshead in North East England will be pleased to learn that GOWEX has been picked to roll-out a free wireless Internet (wifi hotspot) network across “scores of public areas” in both locations.

GOWEX, which has successfully created other wireless “smart cities” in places like San Francisco, New York, Miami, Dubai and Paris, claims that locals will be able to “tune in to the hot spots all day and night for free” and that the service speed will be “fast enough for the vast majority of functions“.

Nick Forbes, Leader of Newcastle City Council, said:

“As superfast broadband rolls out across Newcastle, it will make a big difference to businesses and residents who sign up for it. But these days, it’s important for people to have access to broadband while they’re on the move too – this investment will put Newcastle and Gateshead in the forefront of UK areas for public Wi-Fi availability.

People will be able to connect to the Wi-Fi hotspots around city and town centre, high streets and public buildings – free of charge. It means they can check their emails, compare prices, select restaurants, book tickets and access public information on the move.”

Jenaro Garcia, GOWEX’s CEO, added:

“We are extremely proud that the City of Newcastle and Gateshead have trusted GOWEX to offer to all their citizens and visitors the best free Wi-Fi service in order to transform them into Wireless Smart Cities. These contracts create a platform for GOWEX growth in the United Kingdom, as well as in the rest of the world.”

The project, which has received Government funding from Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) office and its semi-separate £150m Urban Broadband Fund (“Super-Connected Cities“) scheme, is part of the Go Digital Newcastle initiative that aims to make superfast broadband speeds (25Mbps+) available to 97% of the city by summer 2015.

Under the contract, GOWEX will be installing a large number of connection hotspots, beginning this summer 2014 and finishing by the start of 2015. As an additional benefit, people who sign-up to access the GOWEX-provided WiFi in Newcastle and Gateshead will also be able to connect free in other cities around the world where the company operates.

Local labour (e.g. council staff and streetlight contractors) will be used to help build and maintain the network, which is largely being paid for by GOWEX.