City of Launceston Council has been recognised at the National Awards for Local Government which were presented in Canberra last night.
The awards celebrate the innovation and expertise of the local government sector across Australia.
The Council was presented with an award in the Regional Growth category for the city’s free public Wi-Fi network at a ceremony attended by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Launceston Mayor, Matthew Garwood.
Acting Mayor, Hugh McKenzie said he was delighted to see the City of Launceston recognised on the national stage.
“The City of Launceston first established its free Launceston Wi-Fi network back in 2014 as a small-scale trial in the CBD,” Cr McKenzie said.
“Since that time it has expanded to become the largest network of its kind in Tasmania.
“It can now be accessed in areas including the CBD, Inveresk, Riverbend Park, the Cataract Gorge and parts of the Northern suburbs.
“Today the network is made up of more than 50 wireless access points, averaging more than 1,500 unique users every single day.
“It is a service utilised by visitors to our city as well as locals, and we know it has also played an important role in assisting disadvantaged members of our community to remain connected.
“I’m reliably informed that over the past decade, total usage of this network has surpassed 100 terabytes of data — 4500 times the size of Wikipedia’s entire article database.
“As a city building its future, it’s great to see Launceston recognised for an innovative project like the free public Wi-Fi network,” he said.