Virgin Media has worked with Chiltern District Council to bring superfast Wi-Fi to the streets of Chesham.
The unlimited Wi-Fi service is available to residents, businesses and visitors passing through the centre of Chesham. It also includes parts of Lowndes Park – Chesham’s 36 acre park space.
The Wi-Fi network can provide speeds of up to 166 Mbps, seven times the average UK broadband speed, installed through Virgin Media’s street cabinets and the UK’s first ever Smart Pavement.
Gregor McNeil, Managing Director of Consumer at Virgin Media said: “Not only is this the first time we’ve built metropolitan Wi-Fi directly from our street cabinets, it is also the UK’s first deployment of a WiFi connected pavement. It is literally public Wi-Fi under your feet. We want to build more networks like this across the UK and encourage more forward thinking councils just like Chesham to get in touch.”
Chesham is demographically representative of the UK population as a whole and is of a size that allows a quick deployment of services across the whole town, rather than specific locations. In addition, there is a significant presence of independent businesses in the town centre that allow for local level discussions when piloting new ideas and technology.
Cllr Fred Wilson (pictured), Chiltern District Council’s Cabinet member for Customer Services and Chesham Town Councillor, said: “I am delighted that we’ve been able to bring a UK first to Chesham with Virgin Media’s ultrafast WiFi, helping local people and businesses get online. Efficient connectivity is pivotal to running businesses today and I am proud we are part of a project which is crossing new boundaries.”
Virgin has relatively few Wi-Fi hotspots – the most high profile being its network on the London Underground.
The pilot is available to all 21,000 residents and businesses of Chesham.
