Locals and visitors making the most of free Wi-Fi in Mildura CBD

Published on 31 August 2018

Locals and visitors to Mildura are enjoying the use of free Wi-Fi in some of our most popular public places.

More than 8,000 people have tapped in to the Wi-Fi hotspots in the city heart and along the riverfront since they were connected in July last year.

A partnership between Mildura Rural City Council and Telstra, the free Wi-Fi allows anyone with a Wi-Fi enabled device such as a mobile phone or tablet to access free internet service when they’re in the Langtree Mall (not inside stores), Langtree Avenue dining precinct aka Feast Street (not inside venues), the pedestrian connection between Seventh Street and the riverfront and the riverfront promenade and parklands between Jaycee Park and Nowingi Place.

Tourism and Economic Development Portfolio Councillor Simon Clemence said analysis of the first twelve months of operations revealed how valuable the Wi-Fi was for both locals and visitors.

“In twelve months 8,891 people have used the service a total of 25,830 times,” Cr Clemence said.

The busiest month was April, with 840 uses, which Cr Clemence said could likely be attributed to the influx of visitors to Mildura over the busy Easter long weekend period.

“Unsurprisingly, locals from Mildura are making the most of this free service, with people from Mildura accessing it most frequently,” he said.

However visitors from across the state and even overseas are also using the Wi-Fi, with people hailing from Melbourne, Adelaide, Broken Hill, Ballarat, Sydney and even as far as East Sussex in the UK and Waihi Beach, New Zealand, having logged on.

“From a tourism and local amenity perspective, experiences from around the world show the introduction of free Wi-Fi brings many benefits beyond sheer convenience,” Cr Clemence said.

“Research shows that free Wi-Fi encourages consumers to stay longer and spend more."

Of the 12 Wi-Fi hotspots connected in the city heart and on the riverfront, the most commonly accessed are the two at each end of the Langtree Mall.

According to Steve Tinker, Telstra Area General Manager, Australians are getting savvier at seeking out Wi-Fi hotspots to avoid tapping into their mobile data.

Mildura Rural City Council also provides free public Wi-Fi at local libraries, the Mildura Arts Centre and Ouyen Council Service Centre.