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Council awards $4,030 to pilot downtown vendor Wi‑Fi network to help payment processing
Summary
Council granted $4,030 from the Tourism Promotion Contingency Fund to Williamsburg Downtown to implement a pilot outdoor vendor payment‑processing Wi‑Fi mesh network to improve transactions at events including 2nd Sundays and Williamsburg Live.
Williamsburg City Council approved a Tourism Promotion Contingency Fund request to provide $4,030 to Williamsburg Downtown to buy and implement a pilot outdoor Wi‑Fi mesh/repeater network aimed at improving vendors' ability to process card payments at downtown events. Staff explained the program's purpose is to support start‑up funding for event innovations that increase overnight visitation and economic activity.
Ben Munson, representing Williamsburg Downtown, described the pilot: repeating a landline Wi‑Fi signal from the downtown office across several mobile repeaters to cover roughly a block per repeater (about four to five blocks in linear coverage with current hardware), limiting access to logged‑in vendors by credentials, and planning for an eventual fiber backbone upgrade. Staff said Colonial Technology provided quotes and the pilot had already been tested at two 2nd Sundays events. Council members noted the nominal cost relative to potential vendor transaction benefits and approved the award.
Staff and the Williamsburg Downtown representative said they will monitor results and consider broader or more robust solutions (carrier partnerships or additional grant funding) if demand grows.
