RESIDENTS and tourists can now connect to the rest of the world from anywhere along Katherine Terrace after the switch for free Wi-Fi was flicked on December 5.
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The decision to offer the service was made as a result of demand but Katherine Town Council mayor Fay Miller said it was hoped the technological leap would also play a hand in marketing the town’s presence online.
“It’s as a result of the demand that’s been put on the visitor centre,” she explained as council staff tested the Wi-Fi on Friday afternoon.
“It’s to make it friendly and this is so they can access information about Katherine, especially.
“A lot of people don’t go to the visitor centre now; they use the internet, so this should make their trip and their holiday, and their stay in Katherine a lot easier.”
Receivers have been installed in businesses along Katherine Terrace, meaning a strong Wi-Fi signal will be available from the Katherine Visitor Information Centre to United Petroleum.
Users can access the service for an hour every 24 hours from their compatible smartphones and mobile devices between 6am and 10pm.
The receivers were installed by NT Technology and owner Kevin Grey said the download speed had been limited to stop users from abusing the service.
“We’ve got it limited to 512 [kilobytes] per session, so that means everyone can share the speed among them, so it’s an equal share,” he told the Katherine Times.
Alderman Miller said she believed free Wi-Fi being available in public places like 50 Cent Park would take the pressure off Katherine businesses that currently offered a similar service.
“They go into the visitor centre and clock that [internet usage] up and they go into places like the Coffee Club, anywhere that has an internet connection,” she said.
“So this is to split that up.”
The internet plan to provide the Wi-Fi will cost the council $160 per month but has already been “worked through in the current budget”, according to chief executive officer Neroli Dickens.
Mr Grey said it had taken about 40 hours to get the Wi-Fi operational and thanked the businesses who allowed receivers to be installed in their premises.
How to access the free Wi-Fi
1. Enable Wi-Fi on your mobile device and connect to Katherine-Street-WiFi.
2. Open a web browser and, when prompted, enter the visitkath access code to get one hour’s free Wi-Fi.
3. The service is unavailable from 10pm until 6am.