Council plugs free internet for tenants

Solihull Metropolitan Council is planning to offer housing tenants in six buildings free internet access through their power points.

The residents of the eight multi-storey buildings around North Solihull, near Birmingham, will be able to get internet access at broadband speeds through an internet connectivity unit that plugs into the wall sockets, with a three-pin interface on one side and an Ethernet port on the other.

Internet access will be delivered to the buildings over a wireless connectivity service called RedKite, provided by ISP CI-Net. The base station is located five miles away on a Solihull Community Housing (the organisation that oversees council housing for the authority) building.

Access will be financed by the authority and the initiative is an effort to bridge the digital divide among council tenants who are likely to be the most socially disadvantaged in the area.

Around 180 residents will benefit.

Solihull Community Housing head of IT Chris Deery told silicon.com: "We are aware of the disadvantages suffered by the residents in these blocks and this is part of the council's attempt to improve their life chances."

The first block will be cabled for internet access through June, with roll out to the other five completed by the end of the summer. The rollout will then be used as a pilot to apply for further funding for more council buildings.

The initial set up cost is around £60,000 with a service cost of £24,000 per year. Deery expects the cost to come down if the council is able to add more buildings to the network.