Macroom selected for Wi-fi pilot scheme

CORK County Council has selected Macroom as being one of four towns for a pilot scheme for the roll out of town wi-fi.

At the Blarney Macroom municipal district meeting, Jim Molloy said the four towns have been assessed and quotes have been received for installation and support.

He told councillors that an assessment of usage of wi-fi in Mallow is underway to determine the most appropriate model to implement.

A motion had been put forward by Cllr Gobnait Moynihan (FF) on wi-fi in Macroom town and she said its roll-out has “huge potential for tourism as well as retail activity in the town.” She suggested that they could do something along the lines of what ‘Brand Blarney’ did for their region.

She also suggested erecting a sign notifying people that there will be free wi-fi and also said a meeting should be set up with the public and traders on its tourism potential.

Cllr Des O’Grady (SF) said wi-fi was piloted in Mallow and said that there is a stark difference in providing free wi-fi and developing a web page of the town and keeping it up to date.

Cllr Bob Ryan (FF) said that wi-fi is “not what it once was.”

“The primary thing that we need in an area, and it’s what we don’t have, that is rural broadband. Now technology is mobile, such as Daz D3. The Government has wasted billions by not delivering broadband into rural areas,” he said.