More than two million people will be connected every year, according to the prediction of Wiongo company
Benidorm implements the first large 'smart wifi' network on the beaches of the Peninsula
Thirty points will cover the beaches of Levante, Poniente and the old town
Benidorm has started the implementation of the first large 'smart wifi' network on beaches of the Peninsula in the hands of Wiongo Company. In fact, this service of free wifi is already available in all the extension of Levante beach and in the Castle, and before the 20 of April it will be also on Poniente beach and in all the old town, according to the mayor, Toni Pérez; Mauricios Socias, CEO and the founder of Wiongo; and Manuel Bas, Development Manager of the company. At a press conference has been checked in real time the operation of this 'smart wifi', showing the available devices in the area of influence and how many had connected at that precise moment.
The mayor highlighted the "effort and work" done by the City Council, Visit Benidorm and Wiongo in the last nine months to develop this project, which has a duration of four years, which is "at zero cost for the municipal coffers and for the foundation "and that will progressively extend to other points of the city.
Pérez stressed that this 'smart wifi' network is "a very important step in the digital transformation" towards which tourism is moving and "in which Benidorm wants to be a leader, becoming the first Smart Tourist Destination". He also recalled that the city had already tested pilot projects to carry Wi-Fi to specific points of Levante beach and the Castle. After that experience "we look at the best and what other destinations were doing in those moments that were ahead of us" in this area, and chose to contact the company that has been in charge of the 'smart wifi' network of the island of Mallorca.
This Wi-Fi network is composed of 30 connection points installed in the street furniture and is capable of simultaneously serving "20,000 concurrent users". From Wiongo it is estimated that "we will not lose two million users per year" since "we are talking about a very powerful tourist destination".
The sessions last 30 minutes "for security" and "to avoid abuses by automatisms". After this time, users can reconnect to the network. A connection that is made "without barriers" and "with aggregate anonymous data", as indicated by Bas. These data are later complemented by those that provide tools such as Google Analytics and that allow users to profile their users.
Based on all these data, which will be processed by Visit Benidorm, it will be possible to "plan tourism and management strategies in areas such as security or mobility", since the connectivity map will allow us to know the flow and concentration of people at different points of the city and also their tastes and preferences.
Socias stressed that this network operates with "a 'hardware' of quality", as assured that "the equipment" that has been implemented in Benidorm "is the best that can be installed" and has been tested in the Google campuses.