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Free town centre Wi-Fi extended to Porth and Treorchy

Credit: RCT Council

Rhondda Cynon Taf Council’s FREE town centre Wi-Fi scheme is now available in Porth and Treorchy town centres.

Thanks to the next phase of the extension of the scheme, shoppers, businesses and visitors to both town centres can now enjoy the free public-access Wi-Fi scheme.

Following on from the successful rollout of the pilot to Aberdare Town Centre, and subsequent extensions to Mountain Ash and Ferndale, five of the County’s town centres now have free public-access to the Council’s Wi-Fi. This represents further progress on the Council’s commitment to make the scheme available in seven town centres across the County Borough, and also supports the wider programme of regeneration for town centres.

Supporting town centres is a key priority for the Council, especially during the Coronavirus pandemic, which has had such an impact on residents and businesses – and the Council has already announced its intention to develop an economic stimulus package to support businesses across the County in response to this.

County Borough Councillor Mark Norris, Rhondda Cynon Taf Council’s Cabinet Member for Corporate Services, said: “I’m pleased to see two more of our town centres now benefit from the extension of the Council’s free Wi-Fi scheme.

“This is the latest extension of the initiative to support our town centres and will act as another unique selling point in encouraging residents and visitors to support our local businesses by shopping locally in these locations, which is particularly important during these unprecedented times.

“This scheme also benefits our businesses by supporting more of our local traders to operate digitally and exploit the opportunities this affords them, as well by increasing their online presence and potentially reaching a larger customer base.

“As with the previous pilots, the extension of the RCTFreeTownCentreWiFi scheme has been accredited by Friendly Wi-Fi, which means that users can be reassured on the measures in place to provide access to appropriate online content.

“Work is continuing to rollout this scheme to the remaining two town centres of Pontypridd and Tonypandy, and I look forward to both of those locations also benefiting in the future.”

Residents, visitors and businesses in Porth and Treorchy can now access the free Wi-Fi – just look out for RCTFreeTownCentreWiFi on the list of available networks.

The remaining town centres of Pontypridd and Tonypandy will be able to make use of the free Wi-Fi scheme at future dates that will be communicated as the rollout continues to progress.  Joining the network does not require a password and the Wi-Fi is time activated between 7am and 7pm.

The scheme has been fully accredited by Friendly Wi-Fi, a government-initiated service that meets minimum filtering standards – meaning that the scheme blocks access to a range of inappropriate content and web pages known by the Internet Watch Foundation.  The certification means that residents and visitors can enjoy a safer experience whilst utilising the Council’s Wi-Fi scheme.