Free public Wi-Fi comes to local parks

Tuesday, 4 February 2014

Penrith Mayor, Cr Ross Fowler OAM said Council will fund a limited free Wi-Fi service in Memory and Coachmans parks as part of its Digital Economy Strategy.

The service will be launched in Memory Park on 10 February and available from 10 March in Coachmans Park.

Cr Fowler said limited free public Wi-Fi will encourage locals and visitors to spend more time in Penrith and St Marys' CBDs.

"I know residents will enjoy the convenience and the increased foot traffic will benefit city centre businesses," he said. "Cafes in Wi-Fi hotspot areas, for example, could be used for productive 'coffee meetings'."

Om Telecom will manage the service which will be accessible with a Wi-Fi enabled PC, Apple Mac, iPad, iPod, Android tablet, smart phone or PDA.

The service will be comparable to most home broadband services and include a daily download of 100MB and or 60 minutes of time. If a session times out through inactivity the user can log in again. Customers will be able to pay for extra time or download limit if needed.

"Public Wi-Fi is quite common in America and the UK and available in several Greater Sydney cities," Cr Fowler said. "As a leader of Western Sydney, Penrith should have this service."

Council has worked closely with the Penrith and St Marys' CBD Corporations on the project.

"We would like to encourage local businesses to fund extended coverage. With this support, together we could fund the service along High Street through to the restaurant precinct where Henry and High streets meet. This would give us a long stretch of coverage from Memory Park to the Triangle."

Information contained within this news release was correct as at Tuesday, 4 February 2014.