Wireless City project brings 10,000 hotspots
- Source: Global Times
- [10:38 June 22 2010]
- Comments
A man browses the Web at the Belgium-EU Pavilion at the Expo Park, which is covered by the Wireless City project. Photo: IC
By Tang Zhao
The number of Wi-Fi hotspots available across Shanghai under the Wireless City program has exceeded 10,000, although users need to pay to access the Internet through them.
The Wireless City project, which began in 2008, has brought Wi-Fi access to most downtown areas of Shanghai, including major commercial streets, hotels, office buildings, airports and higher learning institutes, according to a report by Shanghai-based newspaper IT Times Monday.
Shanghai's Wireless City program was piloted in Jiading district in 2008, and has since been brought to all Shanghai districts, in conjunction with China Mobile and China Telecom. The project is scheduled for completion this year.
Subscribers to the respective operators are charged to their accounts when using the Wi-Fi hotspots. Non-subscribers need to purchase access cards at China Mobile or China Telecom offices. However, China Telecom cards can not be used to access China Mobile hotspots and vice versa.
China Telecom charges around 0.51 yuan ($0.08) per megabyte of data use for access to its hotspots, while China Mobile charges 0.05 yuan ($0.007) per minute. Both offer connection speeds of up to 2 megabits per second.
China Mobile, the official telecom partner of the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai, has covered the 5.28 square kilometer Expo Park with free Wi-Fi access as part of the program.
"I think the proposal of the wireless city is indeed a great idea, but I still have concerns over leaking private information, as well as the fact I have to pay for access," Jia Xiaoqian, an IT professional who is not a frequent user of wireless networks, told the Global Times.
He added that connection speeds could be slowed down if there are too many people using the same Wi-Fi hotspot.
A number of cities on the Chinese mainland, including Beijing and Guangzhou, have Wireless City projects underway.
Beijing's network was free to access during its initial stage, although it has been charging for access since the Beijing Olympics ended in 2008.
Guangzhou began its Wireless City program in 2008 as part of its preparations for the 2010 Asian Games, which start on November 12.
