“Free” WiFi for Coppergate in time for St Nicholas Fair

City of York Council have expanded the coverage of free 24/7 Child Friendly WiFi across the city to reach Coppergate in time for the St Nicholas Fair.

Residents, visitors and businesses can log in to CityConnect free Wi-Fi via social media or by completing a simple on-line registration form when prompted.

York’s WiFi network has been available in the city centre since 2014 and already reaches multiple areas of high footfall which include Bishopthorpe Road and Acomb’s Front Street, as well as the park and ride and regional bus service.

Roy Grant, Head of ICT and Digital Services said; “We’re glad to announce the arrival of free Wifi in the area of Coppergate just in time for the festive season.

“With our excellent digital infrastructure, and the arrival of Christmas visitors and shoppers, it’s important we utilise our connectivity to benefit businesses across the city.”

York’s CityConnect WiFi is the first in the world to have ‘Friendly Wi-Fi’ accreditation; acknowledging the networks level of filtering and that access to pornography and child abuse websites, videos and images are blocked.

Free Wi-Fi is available in the CityConnect zones across the city, as well as in:
• libraries
• corporate buildings
• community buildings (BDUK)
• our older people’s homes

To find out more about the free Wifi across York please visit: https://www.york.gov.uk/FreeWiFi

WiFi for York community stadium…..but at a high cost

Those who attend stadium events on a regular basis will know that getting a reliable phone signal can be difficult. Even 4G is often not always available particularly in steel framed buildings. A free WiFi signal can be a boon for those seeking the half time scores from elsewhere or seeking to email an update home on how well the concert is going.

 Next week the Council is being asked to fund the provision of free WiFi access at the new stadium as well as at Clifford’s Tower and Coppergate.

The cost will be over £308,000, with £250,000 of this down to the Community Stadium network.

WiFi is currently available at local Community Hubs, Children Centres, Explore (Library) Centres and Libraries, Residential Care homes, Mansion House, Park and Ride Terminuses, West offices, Hazel Court, Registry Office and Crematorium.

Some schools also have the service but it is not universal.

There will be some scepticism about the budget priority for this programme. No usage figures for the existing free network are provided in the officer report.

There are other IT related services in the City which are arguably more urgently needed including the extension of the Councils “on line” issue reporting system and the reintroduction of “on line” and “on street” car park space availability information.

The Council even claims that it doesn’t have the technology to do routine things like the provision of a real time list of vacant garages on its web site.

These may all seem rather more urgent than allowing a tourist to browse the web from the top of Clifford’s Tower.

There will also be an ongoing debate about whether the costs of installing this facility should be a charge on users rather than taxpayers more generally?

York’s free WiFi network reaches Acomb’s Front Street

York’s Cityconnect WiFi has expanded its network out to the suburbs this week, as Acomb’s Front Street has gone live to join the city-wide network.

Front Street serves as a strategic location for the expanding network as it sits central to the suburb of Acomb which is home to a population of over 22,000.

 

This, the latest CityConnect expansion, incorporates Front Street into a network covering York’s city centre, Bishopthorpe Road and all 6 of the city’s Park & Ride terminals. This is in addition to the public WiFi available in 14 libraries and 41 council owned buildings.

The CityConnect wireless connection is available 24/7, 365 days of the year, and is completely free to log in to and use. The expansion of CityConnectWiFi comes at no cost to the city’s council and helps to further develop York as a digital city. The network allows those who pass through the public space to access the network from their phone, tablet or any other wireless device and can support high quality streaming services such as BBC iPlayer.

This latest expansion of the CityConnect WiFi, is one of many initiatives which have taken place over the past few years to further York’s digital infrastructure.

More WiFi in York – Foxwood Community Centre and Sanderson House to get links

York is to continue its digital journey following an announcement that a number of Community Hubs will receive free WiFi in spring 2015.

The WiFi installation is funded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), as part of York’s status as one of 22 SuperConnected Cities and is the latest step in City of York Council’s Digital City campaign.

The free WiFi will be available to residents and visitors while they are in public space. The provision will allow events and seminars to take place and will also help residents communicate with relatives and friends digitally.

WiFi will be installed in the following Community Hubs:

  • 68 Youth Centre
  • Bell Farm Community Centre
  • Burton Stone Community Centre
  • Castlegate 29
  • Clarence Street 30 (Sycamore House)
  • Clementhorpe Community Centre
  • Clements Hall
  • Foxwood Community Centre, Bellhouse Way (due on 25th February)   
  • Melbourne Centre
  • Moor Lane Youth Centre                   
  • Oaken Grove Community Centre
  • Priory Street Community Centre
  • Sanderson Court Community House , Bramham Road    
  • Tang Hall Community Centre
  • Poppleton Road Memorial Hall

(more…)

York City Centre WiFi – Free?

If you think so view this BBC expose

The BBC has lifted the lid on the deal that Labour Councillors did to provide “free”  WiFi access in the centre of York.

click to view

click to view

We said all along that nothing is “free” and now we know what the payback is.

The deal means that large amounts of personal data about you, your activities, interests and movements has been made available to third parties.

We think that individual users should be able to opt out of providing such personal information.

Will the Council agree and act?

Labour launch "free" WiFi. but look at the small print

Labour launch “free” WiFi. but look at the small print

The Councils extended use of “spy cameras” and behind closed doors decision making means that it already has a poor reputation on civil liberties issues

This is a link to the media release response they have put on their web site,.

Separately Labour Leader James Alexander  has come under fire for lack of transparency on a deal that the Council did with an IT provider to use the Councils own super highway network.

Procured by the last LibDem administration, the network was intended to provide high speed links for all the Councils buildings around the City.

Now the core network may be used as part of the roll out of an ultra high speed network under a deal which the Council says will being high speed broadband to “every property in the City”.

Problem is that part of the network has been subsidised by taxpayers and its use – other than at a commercial rate – could violate EU state subsidy rules.

Expect more of this as and when the service is launched.

First spy cameras, now spy WiFi

Behind closed doors logo

The Council has admitted that it will use data from its “free WiFi” service to track people movements around the City centre.

The admission comes in response to a Freedom of Information request which can be read by clicking here

The Council says it will not reveal the activities associated with individual phones

The issue has not been discussed publicly by any committee of the Council.