Free WiFi extended across Essex County parks, public spaces

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Residents, businesses and visitors in five Essex County communities can now access free Wi-Fi in 21 parks and public spaces after the launch of the new service Tuesday.

“It’s an awesome opportunity for connection, particularly for small businesses,” said Connecting Windsor-Essex CEO Joanne Soave.

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Funded by a federal FedDev Ontario grant of $422,000, the municipalities also partnered with private sector providers Gosfield North and WaveDirect Communications and the non-profit Connecting Windsor-Essex in a first-of-its-kind public-private project.

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“I look at how many events over the years where there was an opportunity for small business to earn revenue at different festivals and events we have throughout the county and, unfortunately, the connection wouldn’t allow for that,” said Soave.

“It was often a cash-only environment. Now we can offer cashless solutions to our small business. For that alone it’s a wonderful opportunity.”

The project will see free Wi-Fi available in several public parks, sports fields, arenas and a marina in Leamington, Lakeshore, Essex, Harrow and Kingsville. To connect, visitors simply click on the signal selection on their smartphones.

The project was three years in the making and didn’t require any contributions from the five municipalities. The federal grant covered most costs of the installation with WaveDirect and Gosfield North also contributing by absorbing some costs.

The signal offers coverage up to 2,000 feet from the transmitters installed at the various sites.

“We feel like we have a cool framework now that we can share with other southern Ontario communities,” said Noah Campbell, Connecting Windsor-Essex’s director of technical partnerships and operations.

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“This was a pilot project to see if we could do it — we’ve proved that we can.

“As technology continues to develop and grow, we need to continue to raise those standards (of coverage).”

Campbell added the two local telecommunication companies were the perfect fit for the project, which was proposed by Connecting Windsor-Essex. The non-profit is charged with extending high-speed connectivity to the region.

“Money only goes so far and it’s very expensive to put internet right out of the ground from nowhere,” Campbell said.

“Gosfield North, WaveDirect Communications had existing local infrastructure that they own that they could extend to as many sites as possible.

“They went out of their way to identify ways they could connect as many sites as possible. They did a lot of this out of their own desire to connect their community.”

MP Irek Kusmierczyk (L — Windsor-Tecumseh) said internet and connectivity are no longer viewed as luxury items needed to play with your iPhone. Having blanket connectivity in Canada has become a key piece of a modern economy and is why the federal government was eager to support the project.

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“In the 21st century, residents look at Wi-Fi as infrastructure the same as they look at roads and sewers,” Kusmierczyk said. “Wi-Fi is critical infrastructure in communities to connect residents together.

“Imagine the spin-off effects for local businesses. When someone comes here for a soccer game, and they want to look at restaurants and businesses nearby, they’ll be able to tap into Wi-Fi and be able to find those businesses locally.”

The 21 new sites with free public access Wi-Fi are:

Co-An Park (McGregor); Colchester Beach Harbour; Harrow Arena; Essex Sports Complex; Leamington Kinsmen Baseball Diamonds and soccer fields; Mersea Park (651 Point Pelee Drive); Comber Community Park; Millen and Reg Chevalier parks in Woodslee; Lions Club, Optimist, Lakeview and Duck Creek parks in Belle River, as well as Lakeview Trail, Atlas Tube Centre, Belle River Marina and the townhall/community area in Belle River; Ridgeview, Rotary and William Street parks in Cottam.

Dwaddell@postmedia.com

Twitter.com/winstarwaddell

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