Project goal: Publicly accessible, free WiFi network in the city of Bad Elster
Story text about the successful customer project: Matthias Stock – Managing Director innosaxess GmbH
Information on the initial situation and brief description of the project
The Sächsisches Staatsbad Bad Elster planned to provide a publicly accessible, free WiFi network for guest orientation and increased attractiveness. This should be implemented primarily at the most important public and arrival points of the royal complexes and tourist attractions.
This should not only create the possibility of free internet access, but also the basis for new potentials for guest communication. It was important to have the option of creating a network across a wide variety of sub-areas of the facilities, as this means that all relevant guests or target groups (e.g. swimming, culture, hiking, shopping) can be addressed collectively.
Special features and special requirements
For operation, it was also imperative to ensure that a uniform landing page according to the optical and functional specifications of the city of Bad Elster was available as a start before the mandatory registration and that the registration procedure was carried out from there. Uniform and legally secure access to this system was therefore a prerequisite. In addition, additional special requirements for the software and management system for reaching the tourist destination should be met.
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Key data
- 10 clusters
- 35 access points
- 5 feed points / internet access with a total of approx. 1 Gbit / s.
- Approved user bandwidth 20 Mbit / s each
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Development area:
The site plan shows the entire development area as a map.
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Legend to the site plan:
- C01 church square
- C02 rose garden and gondola pond
- C03 Light, air and swimming pool / Paul Gruner Stadium
- C04 parking lot at the entrance to the village
- C05 Nature Theater
- C06 Kurhaus and Theaterplatz
- C07 Albertpark playground
- C08 Art changing hall
- C09 bathing place
- C10 fitness and motor skills park
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In the 2nd quarter of 2019, 3 more clusters will be added in the districts of Mühlhausen and Sohl.
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After the WLAN network was put into operation, Freie Presse Chemnitz wrote as follows:
wifi @ innosaxess: Bad Elster pioneer for Saxony
In the spa town, the largest municipal free internet in the Free State went into operation on December 4th, 2018.
Bad Elster is at the forefront of progress – there was no other way of interpreting the broad smile of Mayor Olaf Schlott (Independent Citizenship) when it was put into operation. In the rose garden of the spa town, the public WiFi was put into operation in the presence of Christopher Scholz from the broadband competence center Saxony. The free Internet, which is currently available in ten areas (clusters), is the largest municipal offer that has been set up in the Free State of Saxony via the digital offensive.
At 146,400 euros, the investment was not cheap – but thanks to 80 percent funding, it costs only 29,300 euros for the city of Bad Elster. Money well spent, emphasizes Schlott. On the one hand, Bad Elster now offers residents and guests free WiFi in good quality, and on the other hand, it opens up completely new ways of communicating with visitors, according to the town hall chief. The free WiFi in the village is fed by the interfaces fed by Chursachsen Marketing Director Stephan Seitz, so it is up-to-date even without extra work, instead of boring users with the same content over and over again.
Expansion stage 1 with 10 clusters includes the rose garden and flora temple, stadium, bathing area, art gallery and the light, air and swimming pool. Free surfing is also possible from the church square, the playground in Albertpark, from the Royal Kurhaus / Theaterplatz, as well as in the natural theater, in the fitness and motor skills park or on the parking lot at the entrance to the village. A bandwidth of 20 megabits per second has been released for users in order to prevent anyone from “fishing off” everything.
The technical expansion was carried out without disrupting the cityscape and park, said Matthias Stock from Innosaxess GmbH in Adorf. The company, founded in 2017, supports cities and municipalities in setting up and operating their own telecommunications networks in the context of IT security and data protection.
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About the company: innosaxess GmbH – success through digitization
The company’s goal is to offer technically innovative information technology services and products to customer groups with a need for advancing digitization.
Job profile / services:
Advice and services in the field of information and communication technology
- Project planning and process support with a focus on digitization
- Support of digitization projects in the context of IT security and data protection
- Strategic development and implementation of business models in the ICT sector
- Construction and operation of telecommunication networks (fiber / wifi)
- Support for smart city projects
- Regional digitization projects in rural areas
Managing directors: Thomas Schulz and Matthias Stock
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There is one thing that makes those involved in the free WiFi in Bad Elster particularly proud: “It’s a purely Saxon network,” emphasizes Stock. The infrastructure was provided by the regional supplier Eins – energie in Saxony with its fiber optic broadband. There are five entry points. Before everything could start, the Elektro-Steiger company from Mühlhausen had to carry out complex electrical work. “It worked wonderfully,” said Stock. When setting up the W-LAN, innosaxess brought the Adorf radio internet expert Klemens Pohl and the Chemnitz-based VARIA System GmbH to the side. With a “certain cleverness”, so many hurdles were overcome, said the innosaxess managing director. The local Röh advertising market comes into play so that Bad Elsteraner and guests know where to surf freely. The signs for the signage of the clusters were created by him.
Bad Elster does not want to stand still with the WiFi, which was put into operation punctually on schedule. An expansion to more areas is conceivable, explained Schlott on request – and the city has concluded a usage contract with innosaxess for the constant maintenance of the network.
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Stock thinks that digitization can also offer opportunities for care, service and participation in a health resort – without the analogue falling out of the world: In Bad Elster’s cultural temples, music will continue to be played analogue, he assured.
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additional Information
© Text and images: innosaxess GmbH, 2019. Use only with the express permission of the author.
Customer’s website: innosaxess GmbH: https://www.innosaxess.de
Author of the original newspaper article: Ronny Hager, Freie Presse
Article website: https://www.freipresse.de/vogtland/oberes-vogtland/w-lan-bad-elster-vorreiter-fuer-sachsen-artikel10380793
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