The Rotherham Council cabinet first agreed to the installation of free Wi-Fi in the town center in 2018 and identified a provider in January 2020.
However, as of November 2020, the board had been unable to secure a contract with the chosen vendor due to “changes within the business and a general lack of commitment on their part to advancing of the award of the contract”.
A report for the firm to review says the pandemic has impacted the timelines “associated with continuing this work.”
He adds that the landscape for providing free Wi-Fi in the city center has “significantly changed”, which has been attributed to the communications market “significantly reducing the cost of personal data plans on mobile devices and more downtown shops and cafes. offering free Wi-Fi to customers”.
Three options are on the table for RMBC to consider.
The first option is for the council’s ICT department to provide the infrastructure, management and support for a free Wi-Fi offer in the city centre.
The report states that this option is not considered viable, due to the fact that ICT staff “currently lack the highly specialized technical skills and knowledge necessary to design, deploy and manage public wireless infrastructure across the city”.
The second option would involve RMBC paying a third-party provider to provide free WiFi downtown.
The report said the council could not commit to this option, “given the unknowns in terms of potential investment costs and to ensure compliance with public procurement law”.
The third and preferred option would see an extension of the free public Wi-Fi network currently operated by the company to other areas of the city centre.
The gated market area was identified as the priority area as part of the initial procurement and was a key area where free downtown Wi-Fi would benefit traders and market customers.
If approved by cabinet on March 28, public consultation will be conducted via a short online survey to identify what members of the public would like and where Wi-Fi would benefit them.
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Source: www.thestar.co.uk
This notice was published: 2022-03-16 15:08:22
