New Case Study: Newcastle City Council And Purple Set The Blueprint For Connected Cities With Openroaming
Secure and seamless WiFi for Newcastle residents and visitors
Led by Newcastle City Council and powered by Purple, the network now spans civic, cultural, educational, transport and commercial spaces across the city, from libraries, museums and community hubs to council buildings, streets and public spaces. Powered by OpenRoaming, users connect once and move seamlessly between hundreds of locations without repeated logins or captive portals, serving around 300,000 residents, a wider metropolitan population of more than 840,000, and a regional catchment of 1.7 million people within a 30-minute drive.
The results, measured as of May 2026, show OpenRoaming has become the primary way people connect across the city. The network recorded 786,817 total logins, with 92% completed through OpenRoaming or Purple SecurePass, and a 95% repeat visitor retention rate, the equivalent of 2.6 sessions for every resident in the city.
Beyond the numbers, the deployment is helping to close the digital divide. By providing secure, free connectivity across libraries, community hubs and public spaces, the city is helping residents who may not have reliable internet at home to access education, employment, government services and other essential resources.
The vision continues to expand beyond municipal venues, with Purple now working with the Tyne and Wear Metro on an OpenRoaming pilot that extends seamless authentication into the region's transport network, a further step toward a fully connected urban mobility experience.
Gavin Wheeldon, CEO of Purple, said:
"The results show people are using this network and coming back to it, but what matters most is who it reaches. Secure connectivity across libraries, community hubs, and public spaces means that a resident without a reliable connection at home can still access the services they need. Newcastle City Council treated connectivity as public infrastructure rather than a nice-to-have, and made sure it worked for everyone in the city."
Jenny Nelson, Assistant Director - Customer Contact, ICT & Digital Transformation, City Operations, Transport & Neighbourhoods Directorate at Newcastle City Council, said:
"Purple WiFi has been a fantastic addition to Newcastle, providing seamless, reliable and easy to access free WiFi that benefits residents, visitors and local businesses alike. It demonstrates our commitment to creating a smarter, more connected city."
Tiago Rodrigues, President and CEO of the Wireless Broadband Alliance, said:
"Newcastle is a great example of how OpenRoaming can transform public Wi-Fi into secure, seamless digital infrastructure that works for everyone. WBA is proud to provide the global standard that enables cities, technology providers and connectivity partners to collaborate and deliver this kind of experience at scale. We congratulate Newcastle City Council and Purple on this successful deployment and hope it will inspire more cities and partners around the world to embrace OpenRoaming, accelerate digital inclusion and build more connected communities."
The full case study, produced by the Wireless Broadband Alliance in partnership with Purple and Newcastle City Council, is available to download now at
About Purple
Purple is the leading global connectivity platform that has built the world's largest public WiFi network. Their mission is to make WiFi a secure, seamless, and ever-present utility for everyone, everywhere. A global force with a presence in 89 countries, the platform is a powerful network that serves nearly 500 million users across 80,000 venues, with automatic, secure access to over 5 million hotspots through the Purple app.
Press Inquiries
The Purple Press Team
press [at] purple.ai
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the
information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any
responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos,
licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information
contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues
related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.
Comments
No comment