WiFi hotspots to be doubled
GEORGE TOWN: The Penang free WiFi initiative will be extended to all state constituencies, including the 11 held by the Opposition, with each constituency receiving at least 10 hotspots.
Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng revealed this during the Penang Free WiFi Phase II signing cere-mony between Penang Development Corporation Telecommunication Services Sdn Bhd (PDC Telco) and Redtone International Bhd here.
On March 19, PCC Telco chairman Jeff Ooi was reported as saying that three parliamentary constituencies held by non-Pakatan representatives will be excluded from the free WiFi initiative.
However, he later claimed that the media had twisted his statement.
Present at the event yesterday were Ooi and PDC Telco general manager Datuk Rosli Jaafar while Redtone were represented by its managing director Wei Chuan Beng and executive director Lau Bik Soon.
Under the agreement, the existing 750 free WiFi hotspots throughout the state will be doubled to 1,500.
Costing RM8.5mil over five years which will be borne equally by both PDC Telco and the state government, the installation is scheduled to be completed by end of September next year.
Lim said Redtone was providing 50 additional hotspots for free, adding that Redtone would upgrade the Internet backhaul from 10 to 50 megabits per second (Mbps) for all existing and upcoming hotspots.
He cautioned that the free WiFi’s performance, which he described as average at the very least, was subjected to how it would be used.
“If everybody use it to download movies, of course it will be very slow,” he said.
The Star - May 14, 2011
http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2011/5/14/north/8682812&sec=North
Daftarlah Sebagai Rakan DAP! 
http://greenstate.penang.gov.my
