SCENTRE GROUP AND OPTUS PARTNER TO ROLLOUT AUSTRALIA'S LARGEST SHOPPING CENTRE WIFI NETWORK
Scentre Group and Optus today announced a partnership that will offer Westfield shoppers a new level of digital connectivity, with a national rollout of a state-of-the-art WiFi service across 21 Westfield shopping centres.
The rollout will commence this month, making Westfield shopping centres across the country more digitally enabled, improving the customer experience with a free, fast, easy to use WiFi service for all shoppers. The service provides shoppers with up to 1GB of data free for a 3 hour period each day and will be accessible across the entire common mall area.
The national rollout follows two successful pilots in October 2014 at the newly redeveloped Westfield Miranda, NSW and Westfield Garden City, QLD. The free service attracted almost 3,000 sessions on average per day at each centre, and lengthened the average stay in-centre with shoppers who used the service staying 12% longer than those who did not.
“We are focused on creating the best customer experiences within our shopping centres with digital connectivity a key priority. This new service is another example of where we are investing to improve the customer experience through innovation” said Scentre Group CEO, Peter Allen.
“Working with such a reputable technology provider as Optus will provide benefits for our shoppers and our business. With over 500 million visits to Westfield shopping centres in 2014, we believe that this service will meet the growing shopper demands for data as they increasingly use their smartphones to inform their shopping trip and connect socially. This service will strengthen the appeal of our assets with our local communities” he said.
Optus Business is providing the WiFi solution, in partnership with Aruba and SkyFii, to implement the rollout and manage the service for Scentre Group. The service will also provide advanced location analytics and will enable the provision of personalised content for subscribers.
“This partnership represents two respected and renowned Australian brands working together to deliver innovative customer experience initiatives. Like Westfield, Optus is committed to delivering the best possible customer experience, so the opportunity to provide a differentiated digital experience for customers, in addition to showcasing our technology expertise, is very exciting for us,” said John Paitaridis, Managing Director, Optus Business.
“Our focus is on delivering the most compelling ICT solutions to support Australia’s leading enterprises and government organisations. We are delighted with the Westfield partnership as we demonstrate our capability in managed WiFi and analytics solutions on a national scale,” Mr Paitaridis said.
The rollout of the Westfield WiFi service, powered by Optus, will occur across 21 of the largest shopping centres in Australia including Westfield Bondi Junction, Westfield Chermside, Westfield Parramatta, Westfield Carousel, Westfield Chatswood, and Westfield Southland. Upgrades to the current WiFi services at Westfield Carindale, Westfield Fountain Gate and Westfield Sydney will be completed by end of 2015.
The Westfield WiFi service, powered by Optus, will be rolled out to the following centres in 2015:
- Westfield Belconnen, ACT
- Westfield Bondi Junction, NSW
- Westfield Burwood, NSW
- Westfield Carousel, WA
- Westfield Chatswood, NSW
- Westfield Chermside, QLD
- Westfield Garden City, QLD – completed
- Westfield Hornsby, NSW
- Westfield Innaloo, WA
- Westfield Kotara, NSW
- Westfield Tuggerah, NSW
- Westfield Liverpool, NSW
- Westfield Southland, VIC
- Westfield Tea Tree Plaza, SA
- Westfield Warringah, NSW
- Westfield Miranda, NSW – completed
- Westfield Parramatta, NSW
- Westfield Whitford City, WA
- Westfield Geelong, VIC
- Westfield Helensvale, QLD
- Westfield Sydney – Myer side, NSW
Upgrade current centres in 2015
- Westfield Sydney, NSW
- Westfield Fountain Gate, VIC
- Westfield Carindale, QLD
WiFi services will be delivered to other Westfield shopping centres at the completion of the above rollout in 2016.
The partnership will be for an initial five-year term.
Media contact
Steve Batten
Optus Corporate Affairs
02 8082 7850
Lauren Bailey
Scentre Group
02 9358 7283
About Scentre Group:
Scentre Group (ASX Code: SCG) is the owner and operator of Westfield in Australia and New Zealand employing approximately 2,000 staff in Australia and New Zealand. Scentre Group has interests in and operates 47 centres located in Australia and New Zealand, encompassing over 12,500 retail outlets and total assets under management of $40.9 billion.
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