Wireless Global Congress, CHICAGO, 8 June 2022 – Copr Bay in Swansea, UK, now boasts some of the country’s top public Wi-Fi speeds as its free service launches today. With speeds of 800 Mbps, it is believed to be the fastest public-sector provisioned connectivity network commissioned, and will provide a live testbed for any organisation wanting to trial and prove advanced smart city solutions. The only outdoor city Wi-Fi network of its kind, it will support Swansea Council’s own connected services, alongside other international city councils, multinationals and startups already interested in testing solutions from facial recognition and predictive analytics software to security applications.
A new development by Swansea Council, supported by development managers RivingtonHark, Copr Bay phase one includes a 1.1-acre coastal park and the area surrounding the new Swansea Arena. The Wi-Fi service, which also covers Swansea Market, uses a Meraki Wi-Fi 6 network plus a fibre LAN infrastructure able to connect thousands of visitors and businesses at the same time with a simple ‘click-to-connect’ one-time login.
Additionally, a Wi-Fi 6E overlay supports IoT devices and smart city sensors and features Vodafone Direct Internet Access (DIA) backhaul capable of extending to terabits of capacity. The ‘digital-ready infrastructure’ has the potential to be offered to fibre ISPs looking to provide local connectivity, and can be extended as further phases of Copr Bay are developed. With high-performance internet available to any tenant, the service is expected to attract new businesses to the area.
The project is a partnership between Swansea Council and Vodafone, with Wi-Fi software and engineering services provided by GlobalReach Technology. It is part of a wider regional programme to introduce full-fibre connectivity into business parks and other areas of the city centre.
Project lead, Jonathan Hernandez from Kazanjo Systems said: “This strategic program provides some of the best public Wi-Fi speeds ever recorded, enabling the Council to use the infrastructure for their own services, and offers a unique live network for other public and the private sector organisations looking to advance smart city applications. There isn’t another testbed like Copr Bay and we’re already attracting attention from potential overseas Digital Twin cities.”
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