Innovation: Pay and relay

NEWCASTLE City council is installing radio links to 65 of its pay-and-display parking machines, allowing it to change tariffs remotely and download audit and other information - such as the need to empty the cashbox - to a central computer. The system will use the Paknet radio data network, owned by the cellular telephone company Vodafone. Although transmitting data on Paknet costs about the same as using the telephone network, installation costs are cheaper because the machines do not have to be wired up.