Do our cities even need Wi-Fi anymore? Regardless of the answer, Melbourne is charging ahead with a plan to deliver Wi-Fi into the CBD.
The state’s Premier, Dr Dennis Napthine, announced yesterday that the Melbourne CBD would soon benefit from city Wi-Fi under a new plan to roll it out for the benefit of tourism and education.
Free Wi-Fi had been under test at Flinders Street Station for some time, and now the government thinks it’s time to expand it to other hotspots.
It’s still only a pilot program and the government is currently looking for expressions of interest on who will build it.
It’s unlikely that the network will be city-wide, instead only based at many popular transit hotspots and visitor favourites.
We’re as yet unsure of the speed, the cost or the potential for ad-support. We’ll have to wait and see how it shapes up.