Smarter, greener connectivity through community‑first technology.

Meet the Client

Worthing, a vibrant seaside town on England’s south coast, experiences sharp seasonal shifts in mobile demand. Summer tourism puts intense pressure on local infrastructure, while off-season traffic returns to a quieter, community-focused pace. This fluctuation has exposed mobile coverage gaps, issues mirrored in many UK towns facing the same growing digital divide.

To address this challenge, the BEACH Project (Bandwidth-Efficient Access for Clustered High-demand) was launched as part of DSIT’s Open Network Ecosystem (ONE) competition. It’s an ambitious initiative to roll out shared, energy-efficient 4G/5G infrastructure in high-demand areas like Worthing, led by a consortium including Dense Air, West Sussex County Council, the University of Glasgow, Radisys UK, and VMware.

As Dense Air’s digital partner, Sonin was brought in to design and deliver a community-first mobile app that balanced user value with real-time data collection.

Key Features

Local Discovery Experience – Enables residents and visitors to find nearby events, businesses and public services, driving adoption and engagement.

Consent‑Led Signal Data Collection – With full user opt‑in, the app runs in the background gathering anonymised mobile signal strength metrics to support infrastructure planning.

Dual‑Value Design Model – The app delivers consumer value while serving infrastructure research goals, creating the right incentives for user uptake and data collection.

Low‑Impact Background Architecture – Designed with battery and UX in mind, ensuring data capture doesn’t disrupt the resident experience or device performance.