Town and gown partnership sets up wifi for students in York city centre

A joint project between York University and the city council has seen WiFi rolled out across the city centre.

The project will benefit both students and visitors to the city alike.

If a device has already been set up on Eduroam network, it should connect automatically when users are close to wifi hotspots in York’s city centre.

It is the first phase of a project that will eventually see the council’s free City Connect WiFi scheme extended to York University’s campus.

The university’s vice chancellor, Prof Koen Lamberts, said: “This is a fantastic development that demonstrates how we can achieve great benefits for both York and the university by working in partnership with the council.” The council’s head of ICT Roy Grant, said: “The new wifi will benefit thousands of students across the city and it’s great to see our partnership work with the University of York benefiting students.”

It comes as nearly 50 buildings in Bradford have benefited from free wi-fi. Libraries, visitor information centres, community halls, museums and children’s homes are all seeing wi-fi installed through the SuperConnected Cities programme.

Bradford Council has received Government funding to invest in broadband and wireless capabilities in key areas.

The Government scheme aims to allow “easy and fast online access to residents, visitors and businesses, and to advance connectivity and broadband access across the UK’s major cities.”