Warwickshire News Mine

Although many Rugby residents already do this at home, people can now do exactly the same IN TOWN, while sitting in one of Rugby’s many coffee shops, bars or restaurants or even walking down the street.

It’s all thanks to state of the art wireless internet technology, which was officially launched in Rugby town centre on Friday (12th October), national ‘Get Online Day’.

The new service is the result of a partnership between Warwickshire County Council, Rugby Borough Council and Cityspace, the leading UK-based provider of urban digital networks.

Earlier this year, the ‘Warwickshire Direct – Rugby’ partnership launched the town’s first iPlus Points, interactive kiosks that provide free access to information and services, in Rugby Library, North Street and Market Place.

Councillor Peter Fowler, Warwickshire County Council’s Portfolio Holder for Performance and Development, said: “Providing people with free wi-fi internet access in Rugby town centre is just another exciting development in the work we’re doing with Rugby Borough Council and Cityspace.

“Rugby was the first town in Warwickshire to benefit from the iPlus information kiosks and it is amazing to think that you can now be in the town centre and connect to the Internet on your laptop, PDA or mobile phone, without having to plug in or pay.”

Councillor David Wright, Portfolio Holder for Resources and Corporate Governance at Rugby Borough Council, said: “The internet is becoming more prominent in both people’s personal and professional lives.  This initiative will benefit current users allowing more access.  For people who do not have an internet connection, this is enabling them to participate in the world wide web community.”

Rugby is the latest UK town to benefit from the wireless internet access, dubbed ‘StreetNet’, which allows anyone with a wireless-enabled device such as a laptop or PDA access to online services.  Wi-fi access is currently available in Market Square and North Street.

When using Rugby’s wi-fi service, the first page you log on to provides links to Warwickshire County Council and Rugby Borough Council’s websites, the ‘Enjoy Warwickshire’ and ‘Enjoy Rugby’ websites and the Ken Marriott Leisure Centre. But from there you can get access to the whole of the web, completely free of charge.

Councillor Fowler continued: “This is about trying to open up access to information and services to everyone in the community, regardless of whether they have Internet access at home. We want to make it as easy as possible for people to access our services and the information they need wherever they are.”

National ‘Get Online Day’ aims to encourage families who don’t use the internet – or don’t use the internet together – to log on and learn more about what they could do on the world wide web, and what the world wide web could do for them.

Link to WCC