TIP OpenWiFi Solution Trialed By Dublin City and Virgin Media
November 21, 2022
Telecom
Infra Project (TIP) OpenWiFi is ideal for publicly sponsored urban Wi-Fi
deployments. It allows the selection of the most appropriate solution
based on use case rather than a single vendor’s products, facilitates
the independent replacement and upgrading of components, and is
compatible with municipalities’ procurement needs for vendor diversity
and state-of-the-art technologies.
Dublin City Council, Ireland, supported by Virgin Media Business, the
city’s internet service provider, is installing Wi-Fi 6 Access Points
that are compliant with TIP OpenWiFi as a trial of open, disaggregated
solutions for potential use in the city’s public Wi-Fi network. TIP
OpenWiFi is compliant with the technical requirements of the European
Commission’s WiFi4EU initiative, the benchmark for public Wi-Fi
deployments in Europe.
WiFi4EU is a ground-breaking initiative that promotes free access to
Wi-Fi connectivity for citizens in public spaces including parks,
squares, public buildings, libraries, health centers and museums in
municipalities throughout Europe. Municipalities receive a voucher that
pays for the network including maintenance of the equipment to offer
free and high-quality Wi-Fi connectivity for at least three years.
Dublin City’s WiFi4EU Wi-Fi network will be a free Wi-Fi network and
available throughout its historic city center.
“A smart city is built around collaboration and openness. We are
delighted to be trialing Wi-Fi options that are built with an open
source architecture that enables multi-vendor interoperability,” said
Jamie Cudden. Smart City Program Manager, Dublin City Council.
Dublin City Council’s public Wi-Fi trials are using TIP OpenWiFi-compliant
products and software including a cloud-based controller from
NetExperience and access points from Edgecore and HFCL.
“Virgin Media is recognized for providing ‘clever tech’ with ultrafast
speeds and ultra-reliability. We’re industry leaders offering our
customers the latest technology and it just made sense to trial Dublin
City Council’s Wi-Fi network using TIP OpenWiFi standards as part of our
innovation partnership with the council ,” said Noel O Reilly, Business
Products and Solutions Manager, Virgin Media Business.
TIP
OpenWiFi is an open source-based Wi-Fi architecture that enables
multi-vendor, interoperable Wi-Fi networks. The TIP OpenWiFi-based
solution enables the Dublin City Council 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
center network.
A TIP OpenWiFi network can also support OpenRoaming, with no change in
hardware or software. This demonstrates the innovation and maturity of
TIP OpenWiFi.
OpenRoaming™, based on Wi-Fi CERTIFIED PasspointR and the Wireless
Broadband Alliance’s Wireless Roaming Intermediary eXchange (WRIX)
standards, allows users to automatically connect to Wi-Fi networks
without logging in. It also offloads mobile connectivity and enables
wireless convergence.