Roll-out of free WIFI For Inverness
29th June 2017
FREE Wifi will be extended across the city centre in Inverness this summer.
The free service, "Ness Wifi", will be rolled out in the second phase of the Inverness City WiFi project. The first phase provided coverage for the Victorian Market, and the surrounding streets through to Falcon Square.
Phase 2 of the project will see the coverage extended throughout the City Centre, as far as Eden Court and the Northern Meeting Park, by the end of the summer.
Ness Wifi provides access to fast, efficient internet connectivity. This open WiFi network is free for all users and is content filtered, with no restrictions on time. The first phase of the project has seen around 500 people a week logging in and using the free wifi.
Provost of Inverness Helen Carmichael welcomed the announcement of the start of the second phase. She said:"It is wonderful to see this free service rolled out to benefit a much wider area in Inverness. Ness WiFi has already been very popular with visitors to the city centre in the first phase and this wider coverage will be enormously useful to businesses, residents, students and tourists. Fast and efficient internet access is essential to modern life and the initiative will truly make Inverness a “digital city", encouraging further visitors and businesses to the area.”
Work is also underway to scope plans for bringing free wifi in other towns across the Highlands.
The free city WiFi is officially branded as Ness WiFi. The project is funded by the Inverness and Highland City-Region Deal and led by The Highland Council (in partnership with Rapier Systems Ltd.)
www.nesswifi.co.uk
Related Businesses
Related Articles
Young people in the Highlands can call a dedicated helpline offering expert advice to anyone receiving their full Higher, National, and Advanced results on Tuesday, 5 August 2025. The pupils and students- along with their parents and carers - will be able to get support with their results through Skills Development Scotland's (SDS) Results Helpline, which opens from 8am on results day.
Wick Business Park has welcomed wind energy technology company ENERCON as the first occupant of one of four new units completed last year. ENERCON specialises in designing, producing, installing and servicing onshore wind turbines and has been operating in the Caithness area since 2013.
Additional empty homes officers are being recruited to bring more privately owned houses back into use. The new posts are being supported as part of a £2 million investment through the Scottish Empty Homes Partnership in 2025-26 which will see staff take a more proactive and targeted approach to tackling local housing issues.
The Highland Strategic Local Action Group (LAG) met in June 2025 and considered and agreed funding for 28 projects submitted to the Community-Led Local Development fund (CLLD), which makes up part of The Highland Council Community Regeneration Fund (CRF) programme. CRF is an umbrella term used to cover multiple external funding programmes administered by The Highland Council.
Highland Council has provided 12 ‘Talking Tub' resources for use in primary schools across the Highlands, in partnership with Union Technical who deliver community benefits as part of the Energy Efficient Scotland: Area Based Scheme programme. Chair of Highland Council's Education Committee, Councillor John Finlayson, said: "This is a fantastic initiative being rolled out across Highland primary schools which brings innovation and inspiration to early years children.
Visitors will find it easier to dispose of their litter at several popular spots across Highland after the rollout of additional bins. The rollout has been planned to support the tourism season as part of the Council's ongoing commitment to improve and support sustainable tourism in the area.
Members of the meeting of The Highland Council (26 June 2025) have considered and agreed the Accounts Commission's Best Value report, which was published in April 2025 and highlights organisational improvements across leadership, performance management and community engagement. In April’s report, the Accounts Commission recognised and welcomed significant progress within the organisation since the 2020 Best Value Assurance Report (BVAR) and commended the embedded culture of transformation.
A new generation of community facilities is being planned for the Highlands. At a meeting of The Highland Council (Thursday 26 June), elected members approved the work to date in progressing the Highland Investment Plan workstreams - masterplan for Thurso and agreed to nominate the current Thurso High School site as the preferred location for the new Thurso Community Point of Delivery (POD).
At a meeting of The Highland Council (Thursday 26 June 2025), Members received a progress report on the partnership approach and important successes since declaring a Highland Housing Challenge in November 2023. Since establishing the ambitious Highland Housing Challenge, important successes included: A call for sites delivered 250 sites, with a potential 25,000 housing units which will support delivery against the target of an additional 12,000 houses over the next 10 years.
The Highland Council will deliver a transformative programme of energy efficiency upgrades across Council housing supported by a £9.2 million Energy Company Obligation (ECO) funding proposal secured by Union Technical. The funding proposal will deliver approximately 1,000 individual energy efficiency measures to Council owned properties across the Highlands.