06
November
2014
|
23:00
Europe/London

Carlisle city council working with BT to provide free wi-fi to the city centre

A free public wi-fi service is now available in the heart of Carlisle city centre.

The new outdoor network will initially cover most of the city centre and Longtown, bringing free BT Wi-fi to thousands of residents, tourists and visitors across the city. It will also support local businesses. It will be extended to include Brampton later this month.

The service, which extends from the railway station to the area near to Carlisle Cathedral, first became available at the Carlisle Fireshow Funday event on November 1. All the wi-fi hotspots are highlighted on a special map at: www.discovercarlisle.co.uk
Access to the Carlisle wi-fi service is free and unlimited to all. The new service in Carlisle is part of the more than 5 million BT hotspot network across the UK. Laptops, tablets and mobile devices including smartphones can connect to CarlisleCityWifi and click the ‘get online’ button. This will take users to a Discover Carlisle webpage confirming connection. Carlisle City Council has chosen BT to build and manage the network for eight years.

Leader of Carlisle City Council, Cllr Colin Glover, said: “As a member of the Digital Carlisle partnership we are working towards providing widespread wi-fi for Carlisle. We believe that this will make a significant contribution to our ambition to make Carlisle a digitally connected city and will promote economic growth, support tourism and retail within the city and support the delivery of better mobile coverage within the district. Carlisle city wi-fi is an exciting development. It will help Carlisle grow and will support the future development of the city.”

Mike Blackburn, BT’s regional director in the North West, said: “This exciting project is another important step forward for Carlisle. More and more Carlisle residents, tourists and visitors are logging onto the internet via BT Wi-fi.

“BT already operates the largest wi-fi network in the UK with more than 5 million UK hotspots, and our new agreement with Carlisle brings this valued service to an even bigger audience, offering even greater levels of service for people enjoying a day out.”

The new wi-fi service covers a large proportion of the city centre, including parts of Bitts Park. There are hotspots in 21 city centre locations as well as Longtown.


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