Jedburgh lets tourists get connected – for free
Tuesday, August 5 2008
Jedburgh has reinforced its place on the tourism map this week with the joint launch of a free WiFi hotspot and a new town website.
The WiFi hotspot is a one-year pilot project to encourage people to stop in Jedburgh – one of Scotland’s ‘gateway’ towns, as it sits on the A68 close to the border. They will be able to access the free WiFi internet connection from the car parks surrounding the central Tourist Information Centre.
Leader of Scottish Borders Council, Councillor David Parker, and George Burt of the Jedburgh Alliance, officially launched the new hotspot and new town website yesterday.
The project is a joint effort between the New Ways Partnership and business telecoms provider, THUS plc. The WiFi project was proposed by the New Ways Connected Place theme team earlier this year. It is hoped that this pilot will raise the profile of the town to give it the edge in the tourism market and maybe catch the eye of some potential employers in the process.
The free WiFi and the new website were also proposed in the action plan that came out of the Jedburgh Conference at the end of May. Scottish Borders Council has worked closely with Thus and Jedburgh Alliance to ensure the WiFi project was put in place.
It is hoped that visitors and local businesses alike will take advantage of the free access to check email, work on their businesses or just surf the net.
Councillor David Parker said: “I hope this will encourage people to stop in the town and surf the net rather than just passing through. It will be useful for business people and tourists alike and shows that the Council and its New Ways partners, along with businesses in Jedburgh, are forward-thinking and recognise the importance of modern technology in rural areas.”
George Burt of the Jedburgh Alliance said: “I am delighted that two of the actions outlined in the plan for the renaissance of Jedburgh have been achieved already. It would be great if more local businesses could either sign up to the new town website or become linked. The new website will raise the profile of the town and, of course, anyone in the town centre can now access that website – and any others – for free.”
The creation of the WiFi hotspot has been enabled by the deployment of the Pathfinder South network which was constructed by THUS, in partnership with Scottish Borders and Dumfries and Galloway Councils, to deliver network connectivity to schools and public sector organisations across the South of Scotland.
Phil Male, Chief Operating Officer at THUS plc said: "The deployment of the Pathfinder South network has created spin off benefits for individuals, companies and wider communities alike in terms of what broadband services they can now access. Open access WiFi in a traditional, rural community modernises the infrastructure as well as the image of the town and will improve the visibility and viability of small businesses and tourist services in the area."
Unified Solutions.