Free public Wi-Fi for Swindon in 2010

Swindon will become the first UK city to offer free public wireless internet for its population from December 23rd 2009.

Swindon Borough Council has set up a plan “Wi-Fi mesh” that will initially cover Highworth and will expand by April 2010 to 186,000 citizens in the Swindon borough and will provide 1,400 accesses to the wireless connection. The project, which counts with a £1m budget, is born from the partnership of Swindon Borough Council and two private internet companies. In practical terms, the project will mean for residents a two-hour free daily access. T

his council-baked project will provide line rental for free and no connection charges for Swindon citizens and will be an example for other towns and cities across the UK. The project moves ahead the European Broadband Strategy that the Commission will launch early 2010 and follows the path of the Commission’s Information Society policy which seeks to enhance the use of the broadband and to narrow the gap between urban and rural areas.