COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF CLONDALKIN AREA COMMITTEE

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

MOTION NO. 3

MOTION: Councillor T. Gilligan

That the Manager introduces free WiFi Services in Clondalkin and Fonthill Retail Park. This is on foot of DCC offering free WiFi through a commercial company running it as a concession.

REPORT:

By means of background to the motion - it is proposed that free public WiFi may be rolled out under the Council's village renewal activities. The Council's objective is to provide free wireless Internet access to the general public on the main thoroughfares of the County's villages as a pro business measure and renewal initiative. In providing such facilities we are ultimately making these areas more attractive to the public to spend their time and consequently the potential of conducting more business locally (and therefore enabling the potential of spending more money locally).

The model under which we propose to deliver the service outlined seeks to partner with local businesses enabling them to become stakeholders and engaging them in the process. As part of the engagement, the proposed WiFi service can provide the facility to initially drive users of the service to a customisable start page for advertising local business and/or local events. The logistical issues which the engagement of local business seeks to overcome involve; location provision by allowing access to their property for mounting of the WiFi equipment, and internet provision through segmentation of their existing broadband access allowing sharing of the service in a secure manner. As part of the scheme the Council has made available funds to cover the cost of the necessary equipment, installation, and ongoing management of the solution. There is no additional financial cost on the businesses.

Specifically in relation your query regarding Clondalkin - the Council has prior to Christmas 2012 approached the business people of Clondalkin on the basis outlined above with a view to establishing free public WiFi Internet access in Clondalkin. It is disappointing to report that the proposal did not gather sufficient interest among the business people in order to proceed – this despite significant support from local business representatives and extensive effort by both Council staff and third party suppliers.

Whilst the above outcome at the present time is disappointing, the Council is committed to providing the service as outlined at such a point where there is enough interest amongst the local businesses to proceed. We also continue to investigate the options utilised by Dublin City Council in their endeavours in order to evaluate their applicability to the South Dublin County scenario.