Cambridge UK Deploys New Free Public WiFi Network

The Cambridgeshire County Council in England has today announced the launch of a free public WiFi (wireless Internet) network around Cambridge and some of its surrounding areas, which will cover more than 100 public buildings and open spaces.

The new wireless network, which was first touted last year (here), is to be called CambWifi and over the coming weeks will go live in many public buildings (e.g. community and children’s centres, sheltered housing, leisure facilities and libraries etc.).

On top of that Cambridge will also benefit from an expansion of its WiFi network into more open spaces and streets around the city centre, which alongside The Cloud (Sky Broadband) and the University of Cambridge is being extended to Jesus Green to meet growing demand since the service was launched last year.

Lewis Herbert, Leader of Cambridge City Council, said:

“Cambridge is fast becoming a super connected city and needs to be to remain a national leader on innovative technology. Our partnership launch of Public Access WiFi enables people of all ages – whether residents, students or visitors – to access the internet easily on the go.

It is also great to extend free Public Wifi to community centres and council buildings across Cambridge, including parts of the city gaining free WiFi for the first time. We would welcome further offers of support so we can expand free WiFi access even more.”

The work forms part of the wider Connecting Cambridgeshire scheme (with help via “Super-Connected Cities” funding) and involves installing access points on top of everything from buildings to lamp posts and CCTV poles. Other local authorities are performing similar upgrades.