Wi-fi move in bid to boost town centre

3:11pm Tuesday 13th May 2008

FREE Internet has been introduced to parts of Abingdon in a bid to attract more visitors to the flagging town centre.

Abingdon Town Council is eager to stop people in their tracks as they pass through the area and will officially launch the online scheme at the end of the month.

A small box, called a router, has been installed at Abingdon Museum, which means anyone in Bury Street shopping precinct down towards the River Thames can benefit from a free Internet connection.

Sandra Hill, deputy town clerk, hopes visitors will use the free Internet to see what they can do and see in the town.

She said: "This will allow tourists to come and see what's happening in the area.

"Anyone having a coffee in four of the coffee shops should be able to access our wi-fi hot-spot. Or they can sit in the precinct on the seats with their computers.

"I am hoping that soon visitors coming up the river with their laptops will look and see what's happening in Abingdon and will be kept up to date with what's going on, especially the new Market Place events."

Abingdon has been in the headlines because of the number of shops struggling to survive with spiralling rents. Town centre traffic problems have also caused headaches.

The town council came to an agreement with IT company CTS, based at Milton Park, near Didcot, to install and maintain the connection for free in exchange for an advert on the home page.

When people log onto the council's wi-fi connection, the welcome page has listings of what to do and see in Abingdon. Scarborough and Norwich are among a number of towns to also offer free Wi-Fi networks.

Noureem Christain, manager of Costa coffee shop, in the Bury Street precinct, welcomed the system and believes free Internet access will increase business.

He said: "That is great, good news. I have had so many customers walk into the shop asking if we have got a wireless connection, but now we will have it free of charge."

Mr Christain is considering providing computers for customers to use. He said: "I wouldn't do it at the moment, but we know we could do it in the future."

Andreas Khristofi, manager of Coffee Aroma, in High Street, has considered turning his shop into an Internet cafe, but has never thought it viable before now.

He said: "We thought about doing the internet thing, but it would not work as I thought it was a waste of money.

"Unless you charge people per hour, it might be profitable. I do not know if that is something we are going to look into."

CTS has provided businesses in the town centre with stickers to show that they are in an Internet hot-spot. Karen Cutting, the company's office manager, said: "It is something that we have done where we work, set up a wireless network, and we approached the council as we had an idea to offer it to the public. The council is really keen to get people into Abingdon and everybody is really happy with the idea.

"If you are in the market place with a sandwich and your laptop at lunchtime then you can connect and log right on, which will also promote some businesses in Abingdon."