Footscray Smart City to receive upgrades to its public WiFi network

Footscray Smart City for Social Cohesion Project, a joint initiative between Maribyrnong City Council and Victoria University is set to receive upgrades to its public WiFi network through a partnership with smart city solutions specialist, OneWiFi.

The partnership between Sydney based OneWiFi Australia and global technology company CommScope is set to expand Footscray’s public Wi-Fi network which will enable OneWiFi’s Smart City solutions in the city.

The solution suite brings together smart applications developed by the smart city solution specialist, and via a number of strategic solution partners.  The suite includes carrier-grade public Wi-Fi, high-speed internet, narrowband IoT networks, smart parking, smart lighting, smart environment, smart security as well as an analytics platform.

The deal will see OneWifi provide wireless connectivity to Footscray Mall and Little Saigon Plaza, and expand the existing network in other areas like Footscray Park.

Commercial and strategy director of OneWifi, Gary Tsang said the company’s objective is to work with the council, the university and CommScope to implement smart city applications on top of the WiFi infrastructure to help build out Footscray’s smart city capabilities.

Commenting on this development, Tsang said, “We are thrilled to facilitate the expansion of Footscray’s existing public Wi-Fi network over the coming months.”

The expansion of the public Wi-Fi network will support smart city applications including CommScope’s Ruckus SPOT location analytics.

The Ruckus SPOT location analytics will facilitate data collection, storage, and sharing, as well as interface with the Social Cohesion Platform developed by Victoria University.

Director of sales enterprise (South Pacific) CommScope, Murray Dickson said that this collaboration with OneWiFi would provide for a myriad of smart city applications over the top of a network designed for public Wi-Fi.

With some notable exceptions, the use case for public Wi-Fi as a standalone application has shifted.

Dickson said, “The real value of these networks is realised when they are used as a foundation for other smart city applications based on wireless protocols such as ZigBee, LoRa and BLE.”

He added, “In this case, CommScope’s Ruckus SPOT location-based services help to support and complement other technology solutions and to provide insight into how areas such as Footscray can offer better services to citizens or improve efficiencies.”

These tools will provide better access to information on education, tourism, and business, as well as promote economic growth and tourism to the community in Footscray.

OneWiFi says the project will deliver solutions to measure pedestrians’ activity, traffic, and active transport in selected locations.

These tools will also be used for environmental monitoring, with digital kiosks and smart lighting features.

For wide-area networks, data will be collected through a media access control protocol placed in selected locations.