Sydney's famous Bondi Beach and the Bondi area is to have free Wi-Fi with Waverley Council deploying guest Wi-Fi provided by Wi-Fi and data analytics services company Skyfii.
The new free services will provide high speed Internet to its more than 2.2 million visitors and residents across Bondi, including all of Bondi Beach and Park, Tamarama Beach and Bronte Beach.
The so-called Golden Mile attracts around 2.2 million international and domestic visitors every year, and the area has more than 10,000 residents.
“We ran a guest Wi-Fi trial in a section of Bondi Beach earlier this year and the response was incredible,” said Wayne Arthur, chief executive, Skyfii.
{loadposition peter}“Guest Wi-Fi services have become an important offering in popular tourist areas across the world. As people’s expectations for easy and fast connectivity continue to mature, we are helping to provision Bondi’s status as one of New South Wales’ — and indeed Australia’s — key visitor locations by providing this service.
“Typically councils can use guest Wi-Fi to support local businesses by promoting bespoke advertisements and offers to users. It can also be used to, for example, identify peak times for beach goers and allocate lifesaving personnel accordingly.”
This deal with Waverley Council is Skyfii’s first in the council and municipality sector, and Arthur says the sector is a new “key target for the company with more than 560 councils countrywide”.
“As councils seek to enhance the level of services they provide to constituents and visitors, this kind of technology can provide real time data to assist councils to better design and manage public spaces. We’re hoping to work with more councils across the country to help them experience these benefits.”