Singapore and US cities join first City Wi-Fi Roaming Project

A user accessing Wireless@SG. PHOTO: ST FILE

SINGAPORE - Singapore visitors to the cities of San Jose, San Francisco and New York in the United States for the next month will now be able to access free public Wi-Fi through a one-time sign-up on their mobile devices.

From Aug 22 to Sept 21 (2016), they can connect to more than 1,000 Wi-Fi hotspots in those three cities without needing to key in their user name and login password when they move from one hotspot to another.

When they do so for the first time, they just have to download a configuration file and perform a one-time setup for auto-connection to the participating cities' hotspots.

This is part of a trial the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) is working on in collaboration with the Wireless Broadband Alliance City Wi-Fi Roaming Project.

Visitors from the US on the T-Mobile network will be able to do something similar on Singapore's Wireless@SG network.

They can gain access to the national public Wi-Fi network by registering their US SIM card for Wireless@SG network. Doing so will let them connect automatically to 290 hotspots that are available for the trial, which are located on Sentosa and at major MRT stations.

Mr Khoong Hock Yun, IDA's assistant chief executive, said: "Wi-Fi is fast becoming a daily necessity and Wireless@SG as the largest city-wide federated Wi-Fi network will be an important enabler to improve connectivity and liveability in Singapore as we move towards a Smart Nation.

"IDA is delighted to be part of the City Wi-Fi Roaming Project, allowing us to share the Wireless@SG connectivity experience with visitors coming from the US."

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