CARDIGAN’S town centre WiFi scheme is up and running after almost two years in the planning.

The new Wifi service went live last week and will give both locals and visitors free web connectivity across the town centre.

The project – the first of its kind in Ceredigion – dovetails nicely with the recently–launched town app as Cardigan readily embraces digital technology.

Menter Aberteifi managed the project in association with the Town Centre Partnership, where various organisations in Cardigan come together to promote it.

It has cost around £30,000, with funding from both Welsh Government and Europe. The town council has put in £5,000 and 4CG £250.

Project manager Ann Stokoe said: “It’s a real feather in the cap for the town as we look to take Cardigan forward.

“It will benefit not only visitors but also people on low incomes who would otherwise not perhaps be able to access such systems.

“It is ideal for social media, browsing and emails and the systems complies with all new data protection regulations.”

WiFi units have been put up on buildings at strategic points throughout town by installers Telemat and over the next couple of weeks the system will be tweaked to cover any gaps and provide maximum coverage

With the combined data the app and WiFi generate, the town is able gather useful information to help plan and measure cause and effect in the town for visitors.

For example, the new service will be able to find out the increase in footfall during an event such as Barley Saturday, whether free parking makes difference in the number of people in town and how long they stay and where visitors come from.

As a sample, presently the majority of visitors who come to Cardigan are from South Wales and the Midlands and last Saturday there were 3,400 people in the town centre, of whom 688 stayed for up to an hour.

To use the free Wifi, simply search for Cardigan Town on your phone or tablet and sign in.

People will also have the option to be included on a newsletter list which will look to provide quarterly information on events and special offers from Cardigan.

A similar scheme in Tenby attracted some 20,000 subscribers to the shops and businesses.

Similar Wifi schemes exist across Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire, Powys and Gwynedd as well as larger cities but this is the first and only scheme active in Ceredigion.

Other towns are already looking to follow Cardigan’s example.

Cllr Clive Davies, the originator of the idea, said: “Using these 21st century digital technologies shows how a small town like Cardigan can really get to know its customer, be educated and informed to develop their own business and the town further.

“The information could be used to attract new visitors and maybe new retailers who want to know this kind of information to benefit their business.”

Cardigan Traders chairman Martin Radley welcomed the scheme and added: “It can only be good for us as businesses and the town as a whole and we are fully behind it.”