Portsmouth City Council

NOW Wireless was asked by Portsmouth City Council in 2003 to find a secure wireless network system. Having over 30 years experience in communications, and supplying over 350 resellers with a wide variety of wireless systems, we looked into using standard 802.11b/g devices. However, after thorough testing of several different standard wireless devices, we found a number of issues with deploying standard 802.11b/g in a metropolitan environment. The solution was a Mesh4G™ wireless network.

After two years of a successfully running system, Portsmouth has saved over £52,000 in cutting out leased lines to their RTI system, i-Kiosks (free internet access points) and traffic lights. Using just capital costs and having very little ongoing revenue costs they will eventually save £90,000 each year over 160 sites.

NOW Wireless worked alongside existing partners of Portsmouth to provide this city-wide wireless network. Some of the companies we have worked with are O2, TNC Connect, CitySpace and Siemens.

John Domblides, Team Leader of Intelligent Transport Systems for Portsmouth City Council, said the mesh network provided "an innovative and cost-effective way of wirelessly communicating between all the elements of the PORTAL system."

Currently the RTI System has been suspended while changes are made in the system, however the Mesh4G™ network is still operational.

Portsmouth’s city-wide Mesh4G™ network was implemented in 2 phases:

 

Phase 1: The RTI Bus System

The primary aim was to provide a Real Time Traveller Information System to provide the public with timely and accurate bus arrival and departure times and ultimately improve public confidence in the service. In this phase NOW Wireless connected 350 buses to the RTI Computer at the Traffic Control Centre to enable central control and management of the buses across the city.

 

Phase 2: Connecting Other Council Applications

The aim of Phase 2 was to implement the Mesh4G™ system for other council applications in the city. We successfully connected Traffic Lights, Variable Message Signs and CCTV Cameras to the existing Mesh4G™ infrastructure.