Are UK Resellers Missing Out on Providing Urban Wi-Fi Systems Due to Low Uptake of EU’s WiFi4EU Grant Initiative?

Nuvias looks for existing and new resellers to take advantage of the EU’s WiFi4EU grant initiative. London, UK: 21/5/18: 09.30 BST – Many councils are missing out on a EURO 120 million EU grant fund to help install Wi-Fi in towns and cities because of uncertainties over Brexit, claims Rob Clark, Director, Technologies & Solutions […]

Nuvias looks for existing and new resellers to take advantage of the EU’s WiFi4EU grant initiative.

London, UK: 21/5/18: 09.30 BST – Many councils are missing out on a EURO 120 million EU grant fund to help install Wi-Fi in towns and cities because of uncertainties over Brexit, claims Rob Clark, Director, Technologies & Solutions Development at Nuvias1, EMEA distributor for technology leader Nokia.

“This means that resellers too could be missing out on a great opportunity to get into the urban Wi-Fi market,” said Clark. “While the UK remains in the EU, there is still time for local authorities to apply for a EURO 15,000 grant, but they need to do it as soon as possible. We are looking for a selected group of existing and new resellers to work with us to take advantage of this initiative and deliver Wi-Fi to UK councils.”

In Europe, enthusiasm for the grant, which comes in the form of a redeemable voucher, has been very high and many European municipalities have already registered their interest in receiving this financial help. The first release of vouchers is in May 2018 and there are four more staged releases over the coming two years.

A lot of larger cities already have some form of free Wi-Fi for their citizens, so this grant could well be of interest to smaller and medium sized urban environments in the UK, as well as those larger cities which have not yet provided a Wi-Fi facility.

Becoming a partner

For resellers with limited technical skills in this area, teaming up with Nuvias will provide the necessary support to take advantage of this market. Nokia is very experienced in wireless technologies; and Nuvias is known for its technical skills and high level of support. Margin can be made on implementation, reselling hardware such as access points, and reselling services such as Nokia’s hosted service, which manages and maintains the Wi-Fi network on behalf of clients.

Nuvias is searching for a select group of resellers to implement Nokia Wi-Fi solutions for this EU initiative. But this is also an opportunity for those partners to build up a mid-long term, smart city strategy, where Wi-Fi for citizens is just one element of the many solutions that Nokia can provide to local authorities. The upfront investment is extremely minimal, with attractive margins and discounts, and the chance to become part of a select group of Nokia partners.

Urban Wi-Fi systems

Nokia AirScale Wi-Fi is built around a complete portfolio of latest generation Wi-Fi access points for outdoor and indoor deployment. Nokia can simplify a city’s Wi-Fi network needs, from installing Wi-Fi access points through to managing the network, solving the challenge of lack of resources.

Once an access point has been physically installed on a site, it only needs to be powered on and connected to the internet. The centralized Wi-Fi controller automatically configures and then manages the access point. The controller is most often securely hosted in a Nokia data center, together with the authentication server.

This arrangement minimises the city’s Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and ensures data is secured and handled accordance with local regulatory requirements. Optimal total cost of ownership and predictable OPEX are achieved through the pay-as-you-grow model, allowing costs to be kept under control.

About Nuvias Group

Nuvias Group is the pan-EMEA, high value distribution business, which is redefining international, specialist distribution in IT.  The company has created a platform to deliver a consistent, high value, service-led and solution-rich proposition across EMEA. This allows partner and vendor communities to provide exceptional business support to customers and enables new standards of channel success.

The Group’s portfolio covers a comprehensive range of IT solutions, with the focus currently on three areas – Cyber Security (based on the former Wick Hill); Advanced Networking (based on the former Zycko) and Unified Communications (based on the former SIPHON). In July 2017, Nuvias added Benelux value added distributor and security specialist DCB to the Group. All four award-winning companies had previously demonstrated their ability to provide innovative technology solutions from world-class vendors, and deliver market growth for vendor partners and customers. Nuvias Group has 21 regional offices across EMEA, as well as serving additional countries through those offices. Turnover is around US$ 500 million.

ENDS

  1. Nuvias is a Nokia technology partner

For further press information, please contact Annabelle Brown on +44 (0)191 237 3067, email [email protected]: https://www.nuvias.com: https://twitter.com/NuviasAdvNet: https://www.linkedin.com/company/zycko/