GEORGE TOWN, March 4 — Internet users in Penang will be glad to know the state’s six-year-old free WiFi service is now faster after a bandwidth upgrade, from 75Mbps to 375Mbps.
Users can now enjoy a faster speed of up to 1Mbps per person, its service provider REDtone International Berhad announced today.
“This means the free WiFi service do not only limit users to checking emails and websites but will also allow users to download videos and images,” the company’s president and chief business officer Shaifubahrim Saleh told a news conference here.
He said this is to keep up with current times where most users own smartphones, tablets and laptops, so they do more than just browse the Internet using their devices.
Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, who was also present at the news conference, said the free WiFi service will see a five-fold increase in bandwidth for users all over the state.
“Penang is one of the very few cities in the world to provide free WiFi in the city that even tourists are shocked by this free service,” he said.
The Penang free WiFi service was launched by the state government in 2009 to provide free internet access to the public at public places.
There are now 1,550 hotspots located all around the state’s 40 constituencies.
Lim said there are now 600,000 registered users and an average of 20,000 users log in to the service daily.
The additional bandwidth will cost the Penang state government an additional RM25,000 monthly, increasing the sum the state pays for the service from RM129,200 each month to RM154,200 each month.
This effectively means the state will pay RM1.85 million annually for the upgraded free WiFi service.
