Singapore is
to get 4,000 new free Wi-Fi hot spots by next April in communal
spaces such as polyclinics and hawker centres.
It will bring
the total number of free Wireless@SG access points
to 14,000. Selected voluntary welfare organisations (VWOs), such as
seniors' activity centres and family service centres, will get them
for the first time.
It is part of
a larger push by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) to
increase the total number of Wireless@SG hot spots
to 20,000 by 2018.
There are
currently about 10,000 Wireless@SG hot spots in
places such as community centres, train stations, shopping centres
and libraries.
According to
tender documents uploaded onto government procurement website
GeBiz, the additional hot spots will first be installed in 18
polyclinics, more than 80 hawker centres, and 100 seniors' activity
centres and family service centres.
IMDA chief
executive Gabriel Lim said public use of Wireless@SG
has increased sixfold since 2014, when a new login method using SIM
cards made it easier for users to access the hot spots.
"Our team is
currently gathering more feedback and ideas from the public,
including holding focus group sessions, to help us improve
Wireless@SG for all," he said.
The agency is
also working to boost Internet performance at public libraries,
community centres and public hospitals that already have
Wireless@SG hot spots.
It will add
more hot spots and upgrade existing ones so that users can enjoy
wider coverage and faster surfing speeds. This is to address a
common bugbear of surfing slowdowns when the network gets
congested. The expansion and upgrading works are expected to start
next month.
The IMDA said
that about two million unique users a month log in to
Wireless@SG services.
They clocked
an average of 11 million hours a month, as of September this
year.
Since April,
surfing speeds have been progressively upgraded from 2Mbps to 5Mbps
- slightly faster than 3G speeds, but falling short of 4G surfing
speeds that range from 16.7Mbps to 18.6Mbps.