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Wi-fi Internet for the masses

An initiative in Singapore for free access

SINGAPORE: The Singapore Government said it plans to cover most of the island with public wireless Internet access by next year and offer nearly 10,000 subsidised computers to low-income students to offer digital opportunities to all its citizens.

The Government will increase the number of public wireless "hot spots" from 900 to 5,000 by next year as part of the plan, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said while launching the WirelessSG initiative marking 25 years of a drive to boost information technology in Singapore. "We must create digital opportunities for all Singaporeans, and never allow a digital divide in our society," he said.

He added that about 10,000 needy households with school-going children will qualify for subsidised computers, and efforts will be made to help the elderly and disabled use the Internet.

Meanwhile, it was reported that families that earn less than S$2,000 (about Rs. 5,600) a month can purchase a computer for S$285.

The Internet access plan will offer free 512 kilobits per second wireless access for at least two years through telecom operators SingTel, iCell and QMax at public wireless hot spots across the city, said a press release from the government's Infocomm Development Authority, which runs WirelessSG. SingTel will offer the service free for three years, the others for two.

"The three operators will bump up the number of WirelessSG `hotzones' in high-traffic, public areas... to make wireless broadband a ubiquitous access mode by September 2007," the statement said. The hot spots will be at town centres, business districts and shopping belts. — AP

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