Shoalhaven City Council mayor Amanda Findley has submitted a mayoral minute at the next ordinary meeting on Tuesday, November 24 asking council to look at establishing a free Wi-Fi network in the Nowra CBD and allocate funding from the 2021/22 budget.

Cr Findley said the installation of new lighting in the Nowra CBD presented an ideal time for the project.

"The CBD Revitalisation Committee are considering lighting improvements for Nowra which would likely mean the installation of 'smart poles' which would provide an ideal platform for an integrated network solution," she said.

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She said there was the potential for the idea to support businesses and reduce their costs.

"As Council is a volume purchaser of telecommunications services, there is the potential for Council to provide a network for the Nowra CBD that presents free community access and reduces costs to business," she said.

"If each business is paying additional costs to provide Wi-Fi for its customers, then finding a way to reduce this cost would be beneficial and an additional way to support economic recovery in the Nowra CBD.

"If such a plan proves to be cost effective, it could then be rolled out to other villages."

Cr Findley also asked council to look at how Nowra business could join the network at a minimal cost while still providing 'free' access to customers.