Why This Matters Now
UK local authorities face unprecedented budget pressures while demand for services continues to rise. Public WiFi is already one of the most underused assets you own — and the analytics it generates can become a strategic decision-making tool overnight.
Public WiFi is a utility. The analytics are the strategic asset.
Each pillar transforms raw connectivity data into actionable insight — helping councils, Business Improvement Districts, and housing associations make evidence-based decisions.
Digital Inclusion & Equity
Identify who is being left behind — then target support where it matters most. Public WiFi is often the only stable internet connection for vulnerable residents.
- Device tiering — analyse device types by zone as a proxy for socioeconomic status
- Primary internet indicator — long sessions signal residents using public WiFi as home broadband
- Language & accessibility — splash-page selections reveal community demographics
Economic Growth & Commercial Vitality
Your WiFi network as a digital sensor for the physical economy — capturing the rhythm of festivals, high-street loyalty, and local trade.
- Event halo effect — track visitor flow from events to cafés and retail within two hours
- New vs. repeat visitors — measure the "stickiness" of a town centre or park
- Retail conversion — see how splash-page promotions translate into footfall
Placemaking & Urban Planning
Understand how people actually use a space — not how it was designed. WiFi analytics overlay real behaviour onto the built environment.
- Dwell-time mapping — discover which zones hold attention and which are thoroughfares
- Movement patterns — map pedestrian flow, desire lines, and bottlenecks
- Time-of-day heatmaps — schedule services and plan maintenance windows
Branded Digital Journeys & Civic Engagement
The splash page is a live channel between the council and its residents. Every login is a micro-interaction with your authority's brand.
- Micro-survey sentiment — "How safe do you feel here today?" geofenced data in real time
- Marketing opt-in rates — a direct KPI for civic engagement and tourism alerts
- OpenRoaming transition — passive movement data without active logins
Deployed in months, not years
Purple's approach is designed for speed, simplicity, and minimal disruption. No new infrastructure procurement, no lengthy installations, no complex integration projects.
Layer onto Existing Infrastructure
No new hardware needed in most locations. Purple integrates with your current broadband and WiFi estate across libraries, high streets, transport hubs, and public spaces.
Create One Unified Network
Residents and visitors connect once via the free Purple app or a branded portal and stay seamlessly connected across every enabled venue — no passwords, no portals, no friction.
Unlock Real-Time City Intelligence
Capture anonymised footfall, dwell time, and behavioural data to inform planning decisions, measure interventions, and evidence impact to central government — all in real time.
Activate Local Business Engagement
Businesses access analytics and marketing tools to drive loyalty, personalise offers, and increase high-street spend — at no cost to the council or the business.
Indicative Deployment Timeline
A WiFi solution built for your city
Offer residents and visitors highly secure, flexible ways of getting online — either through a captive portal or the Purple app for seamless connection.
Welcome
Easy login for all users
Venues
Geolocation surfaces branded venues on the map
Search
Search functionality on the go
WiFi Pass
Add to Wallet for easy access
Live Updates
iOS live activity updates on the home screen
WiFi for every resident and visitor
Automatic connection, live updates, and custom messages — all designed to keep your community connected.
Connect
Automatic connection — just like home WiFi
Discover
Keep users up to date with news and events from the area
Services
Services and advice for residents
Feedback
Users review their experience across the city
Activity
Activity is logged for all users to look back on
Latest Access
View latest online sessions with ease
Your ROI Breakdown at £75,000
A £75,000 annual investment delivers £312,500 in measurable value across four categories. That's a 4.2× return and 317% net ROI in year one.
Council transactions cost £8.62 face-to-face versus £0.15 digital (SOCITM). Purple's branded portal drives 15,000+ transactions to digital channels annually, saving £8.47 per interaction.
Real-time analytics reduce manual data collection, reporting overhead, and communication costs. Automated engagement replaces print and post — saving an estimated 4,800+ staff hours per year.
Digitally excluded residents pay up to 25% more on essentials (Centre for Social Justice). Each connected resident can save £500+ per year, reducing demand on in-person support services.
Footfall analytics, heatmaps, and movement patterns replace costly manual surveys. Evidence-based budget allocation reduces wasted spend on underperforming initiatives.
Everything You Get for £75,000 per Year
A complete Smart Connected City platform — deployed on top of your existing infrastructure, with no rip-and-replace required.
Free, Secure Public WiFi
Cloud platform overlays your existing infrastructure. Residents and visitors get always-on connectivity without new hardware spend.
Branded Council Portal
Dynamic landing page with one-click access to housing, benefits, repairs, and digital skills services.
Visitor Welcome & Wayfinding
Curated discovery journey surfacing events, businesses, transport, and live timetables for tourists and residents.
City Intelligence Dashboard
Real-time footfall, heatmaps, spend tracking, movement patterns, and service uptake analytics in one place.
Enterprise WiFi for Businesses
Free, PCI-compliant guest WiFi for local businesses with branded portals and marketing tools — driving high-street vitality.
Targeted Communications
Push promotions, surveys, and outreach to connected residents. Promote financial support, events, and consultations directly.
From Seeing Data → Taking Action
Every metric maps to a decision. Here's how councils turn WiFi analytics into measurable, real-world outcomes.
"We saw a 30% increase in dwell time after installing new benches in the square — let's roll them out across the borough."
Prove ROI before scaling expenditure. Show evidence to councillors, scrutiny committees, and external funders.
"Zone B has the highest concentration of legacy devices and prolonged sessions — let's prioritise this area for the digital skills workshop."
Direct resources where impact is greatest. Replace gut-feel decisions with granular evidence.
Real-time footfall data serves as an early-warning system for overcrowding and public safety incidents.
Act before problems escalate — coordinate with police, transport, and emergency services using live evidence.
Newcastle City Council — A City-Wide WiFi Network
Newcastle became the first council and first city in the world to deploy a unified public WiFi network of this kind. Powered by the Purple ConneX App, users connect once and roam freely across hundreds of hotspots spanning council offices, libraries, gyms, commercial buildings, and public spaces. Purple also provided £120,000 of free WiFi hardware and licences to 1,000 local SMEs to accelerate adoption.
"This project is about fairness as much as technology. Seamless, free connectivity helps level the playing field, ensuring no one in Newcastle is left behind in the digital age."— Cllr Paul Frew, Cabinet Member for Resources and Performance, Newcastle City Council
Proven Results Across Local Government Deployments
Real numbers from real councils, healthcare providers, and transport operators using Purple today.
Total savings. Over 80,000 staff hours saved and £730K in missed appointments prevented through digital wayfinding.
Return on investment. WiFi investment translated directly into measurable commercial returns for the rail operator.
ROI achieved. Tiered bandwidth monetisation drove substantial additional revenue streams across the airport group.
Certified, accredited, and trusted globally
Recognised in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Indoor Location Services · OpenRoaming & Passpoint enabled · Serving 20M+ users across 90 countries
Ready to Connect Your Authority?
Featured products for Local Government
The Purple platform pieces most Local Government venues deploy on day one.
Guest WiFi platform for Local Government
Captive portals, analytics, and marketing automation as a cloud overlay.
Captive portal software for Local Government
Modern captive portals with social login, SSO, and marketing consent.
Passwordless WiFi for Local Government
EAP-TLS, iPSK, and Passpoint — replace shared passwords with identity.
Recommended solution for Local Government
WiFi for IT & network teams. Cloud captive portals, RADIUS, and analytics layered on top of Cisco, Aruba, Juniper Mist, Meraki, and Ubiquiti.
See WiFi for IT & network teams →Related industries
Other verticals running on the same Purple platform.
