Dublin progresses smart city vision with free public wifi

City of Dublin is set to roll out city-wide, high-performance wifi access following a successful proof-of-concept trial.

Initially deployed at Bernardo Square, Dame Street and the city council’s Amphitheatre, Wireless Broadband Alliance’s OpenRoaming enables residents and visitors to log in only once and then maintain seamless connectivity as their smartphones, tablets and other devices automatically switch between different public wifi hotspots.

City-wide deployment

The success of the trial, initiated by Dublin City Council’s Smart Dublin programme and supported by the WBA and Virgin Media, will pave the way for a larger city-wide deployment.

Dublin, capital of the Republic of Ireland, is a high growth city. It currently has a population in the Greater Dublin Area of around 2.02 million and is anticipated to grow to 2.2 million by 2031. It houses 30 per cent of the country’s working population and attracts over 6.6 million overseas visitors a year. It is anticipated that OpenRoaming will be initially rolled out on over 150 access points (Aps) across Dublin city.

“Collaborations like this are key to the delivery of convenient, reliable and ubiquitous connectivity which is critical for achieving our smart city goals such as closing the digital divide”

According to the City, the trial, which also involved participation from CommScope, represents a key a milestone toward it achieving Dublin’s smart city goals, which include:

• Providing communities, residents and businesses with seamless access to services online, as well as high-quality connectivity
• Giving tourists and other visitors free, secure, high-performance wifi access. Once they arrive and log on to an OpenRoaming-enabled hotspot, their device is automatically authenticated for use every time it switches to another OpenRoaming-enabled hotspot. This convenience makes it easier for them to find what they need, such as restaurant recommendations, transit schedules, directions and more
• This seamless, secure experience ensures that they have the broadband connectivity they need for interactive immersive learning, research, hybrid study and more.

“Dublin is at the forefront of a digital transformation that is serving as a model for other municipalities across Ireland and the world,” said Jamie Cudden, smart city lead for the City of Dublin.

“Collaborations like this are key to the delivery of convenient, reliable and ubiquitous connectivity which is critical for achieving our smart city goals such as closing the digital divide and ensuring that government is responsive to the needs of citizens and businesses. This successful trial of WBA OpenRoaming is a milestone toward achieving all those goals.”