Concertgebouw becomes 1,500th location with free and secure Wi-Fi via Dutch tech start-up Publicroam

Amsterdam – The Concertgebouw is the 1,500th location in the Netherlands where visitors can get online automatically and securely via Publicroam. With this, the Dutch tech start-up from Zeist takes a new step in its mission to transform public Wi-Fi into a reliable gateway to the internet that is available to everyone. Publicroam is now the largest Wi-Fi roaming service in the Netherlands.

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Wi-Fi has become so commonplace that we hardly think about the risks anymore. Yet public Wi-Fi is often vulnerable: hackers and Wi-Fi sniffers can watch unnoticed or intercept data. Publicroam offers a secure and privacy-friendly solution for this. Visitors sign up once for free, and then connect automatically and securely at each of the now 1,500 (and growing) participating locations in the Netherlands – from town halls and libraries to port authorities, theaters, provinces, and healthcare institutions … and now also the Concertgebouw. Meanwhile, Publicroam has more than 500,000 (!) registered users.

“Access to the internet is part of modern hospitality today. It allows us not only to enrich the audience musically but also to connect them digitally. That connection must, however, be secure and responsible. That is why it made sense for us to collaborate with Publicroam – a forward-looking step that fits our ambition to let everyone enjoy the Concertgebouw without a care.”

– according to Suzanne Verweij, Head of IT at the Concertgebouw

The growth of secure Wi-Fi is supported in part by the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, the SIDN fund, and the municipalities of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Eindhoven, and The Hague, which helps public organizations switch from open Wi-Fi to a secure solution via the ‘Zorgeloos Verbinden’ (Carefree Connection) scheme. With this, the Netherlands is taking an important step toward a future where secure Wi-Fi is as natural as clean drinking water or street lighting.

“It is a great honor that a national institution like the Concertgebouw recognizes the importance of secure and anonymous access to the internet,” says co-founder Ted Dinklo. “It shows that providing internet access in the right way has become part of hospitality. Whether you are drinking a cup of coffee in the library or attending a concert in Amsterdam – everyone deserves a carefree, secure connection. Makes sense, right!”

About Publicroam

Publicroam is a Dutch initiative that connects visitors of public locations securely and automatically to Wi-Fi networks. Users sign up once for free and then connect automatically at all participating locations – from municipalities, libraries, and museums to universities and cultural institutions. Publicroam was founded in 2017 by Ted Dinklo and Paul Francissen and won the Dutch Privacy Award in 2020.

For additional information, images, or logos, you can visit our press page or contact us at 030 – 307 44 99 or info@publicroam.net.