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07/11/2006All-Purpose Wireless Remains Free in Islington, UK
The Technology Mile deployed by the London Borough of Islington is now more than a year old. It has been expanded to 4 km while remaining free of charge to users. A hotzone called StreetNet provides free wireless Internet access to local businesses, residents and visitors, and the Council's Web site offers users up-to-date information on a range of services. Una Darrer, Business Development Officer, Technology Solutions Group for Islington Council, answered questions about the network and future application possibilities.
 How many network users are there at present?
There are approximately 2,000 StreetNet network users per week. This is a huge increase from the 800 users per week this past winter. No individual user information is being collated at present, although this is being worked on.
How has the project progressed?
The wireless hotzone has now been extended to 4 km and is the largest free hotzone in the U.K. Additional PC installations have occurred along Upper Street. We've done training of homeless visitors to the borough on accessing the network. Islington's computer learning bus has been wireless enabled so that the bus can drive into a hot spot (for example, a housing estate) and offer wireless training facilities on board.
Have you faced any concerns about privacy or security?
We haven't had any concerns about security as filtering and security measures are in place.
What have some of your challenges been?
The main challenge was to bridge the digital divide and to reach out to the less privileged communities within the borough. This was achieved by installing PCs within local businesses and drop-in centers offering free Internet access and access to Council services and information. By extending the wireless hotzone into the less privileged end of the borough, we ensured all members of the community were able to reap the benefits of this technology.
How did you identify your key partners and build successful relationships with them?
CitySpace was already an established technology partner for the iPlus Point network. Having successfully implemented a network of iPlus information kiosks across the borough, Cityspace was selected to develop a wireless broadband network across the centre of the borough.
All local businesses were lobbied to install PCs within their premises to offer open, free internet access and Council information. And we established a good working relationship with TfL (Transport for London) over a period of time as the lampposts are owned by them and they were required to provide power to the wireless nodes.
Belair Networks was chosen as the technology suppliers. With over 100 deployments worldwide, BelAir is the only company delivering a complete and comprehensive wireless mesh product line and they offer the industry's fastest network deployment together with lowest cost network options.
Is the network financially sustainable?
We are looking at ways of making the network sustainable through local business advertising, running particular applications and services over the StreetNet infrastructure and possibly charging for premier access for some users.
What are your plans for the future?
We want to run applications over the StreetNet network for mobile working, include CCTV installations in local businesses, do wireless coverage within a housing estate, and do Webcam installation to monitor a crime hotspot within the borough.
The StreetNet landing page needs to be redesigned to provide more comprehensive information. And the wireless network can be used to support traffic monitoring and bus lane management systems.
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