Taipei expands free wireless services

Wireless online services expanded to outdoor public areas in Taipei as the city launched Friday the second phase of its free public-area wireless services. Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin kicked off the service Friday in a ceremony marking the formation of a 4G wireless city in Taipei, Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported. Hau made the announcement along with Global Mobile Corp. chairperson Rosemary Ho and Liu Chao-shiuan, president of the state-funded General Association of Chinese Culture and a former premier. Global Mobile, a 4G WiMAX operator contracted to carry out the “Taipei Free" wireless online services program, said the number of hotspots in outdoor and indoor public areas in the capital city has reached 2,000. This does not yet include hotspots on 500 public buses, but the number of hotspots on buses is expected to increase to 800 by the end of the year, the company said. Since Taipei started its free wireless online services in indoor public areas on July 1, the volume of Taipei Free public-area wireless service users has increased to 1.8 million people. These users will be able to surf the Internet through free wireless online services in outdoor public areas of eight major commercial zones in the city, including Taipei Main Station and the Xinyi District, Global Mobile said. — TJD, GMA News