The project is being built using the OpenWiFi solution from the Telecom Infra Project (TIP) and it will conform with European WiFi4EU standards.
Jamie Cudden, the smart city programme manager at Dublin City Council, said: “A smart city is built around collaboration and openness. We are delighted to be trialing Wifi options that are built with an open source architecture that enables multi-vendor interoperability.”
Earlier this year Dublin said it was planning to install 150 access points across the city for free OpenRoaming Wifi, after a successful trial.
That trial took place in three locations close to City Hall and Dublin Castle, with the assistance of the Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) and Virgin Media, as well as participation from infrastructure maker CommScope.
This latest trial is said to be of “open, disaggregated solutions for potential use in the city’s public Wifi network”. Virgin Media said: “TIP OpenWiFi is compliant with the technical requirements of the European Commission’s WiFi4EU initiative, the benchmark for public Wi-Fi deployments in Europe.”
Dublin’s WiFi4EU network will be a free network and available throughout its historic city centre.
The latest trial uses TIP OpenWiFi-compliant products and software, including a cloud-based controller from NetExperience and access points from Edgecore and HFCL.
Noel O Reilly, business products and solutions manager at Virgin Media Business, said: “We’re industry leaders offering our customers the latest technology and it just made sense to trial Dublin City Council’s Wifi network using TIP OpenWiFi standards as part of our innovation partnership with the council.”
The solution enables Dublin and Virgin Media to seamlessly mix and match additional access points and controllers from any TIP OpenWiFi compliant manufacturer, “enabling it to easily expand the city centre network”, said Virgin Media.
