Good afternoon everyone. Thank you for lending us your support today as we celebrate another significant development for the Penang Free WiFi service in public places.
As most of you here are aware, the Penang government launched the Free WiFi Service in public places in 2009. We were the first in the country to offer free broadband access to the public at 750 free wifi hotspots in specific public areas in the island and Butterworth.
Our objective was simple – we want to make the Internet easily accessible to everyone at any time. And judging from the number of registered users that we have today, which is about 600,000, I can say that we have achieved our aim.
We are indeed very happy that the free WiFi service in public places continues to be so popular, not just amongst Penang residents but tourists as well.
Today, six years after the launch, we have gradually increased the number of free WiFi hotspots to 1,560 in the island itself and the mainland, something that the public will be pleased to know, I am sure.
In addition to enabling more people access the free service, we have also as recently as February this year, upgraded the bandwidth from 75Mbps to 375Mbps. This piece of good news was welcomed by many as it meant that Internet users can get faster speed of up to 1Mbps. Previously it was 512kbps.
This is all part and parcel of the state government’s on-going efforts to make the free WiFi service experience a good one.
Today, I am here to share more happy news – you can now enjoy high speed Internet when you use the Penang Free WiFi Service!! Yes, that’s right.
50 high speed WiFi hotspots are now available in the Heritage and KOMTAR areas. The speed that you will be getting is 3Mbps compared to the 1Mbps at the other WiFi hotspots.
With the faster speed now at your fingertips, I hope users will be able to do more things better, for example when downloading videos and images. Overall, their web browsing experience will be enhanced at these 50 high speed hotspots. The Penang State Government believes that faster internet or digital broadband speed is a necessary and sufficient condition to become a high-income economy and developed country. Whilst the Communication and Multimedia Minister may prefer lower broadband speeds, this is just like the declaring that we can move forward by going backwards. The Penang State Government intends to showcase a model of faster broadband speed vis-a-vis a slower one as to whether it is the faster Penang version or the slower one that will attain international and intelligent city status which is cleaner, greener, safer and healthier.
It is my pleasure to officially launch the 50 high speed 3Mbps free WiFi hotspots in public places in Penang.
Thank you all for joining us here today at this special occasion. I hope that you will take the opportunity and be among the first to enjoy the free high speed access.