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Print 12 comment(s) - last by MadDogMcKill.. on Aug 31 at 12:34 AM

Yes, the whole country

According to reports, Singapore is in the process of launching a nationwide Wi-Fi network that will let users receive an network connection to the Internet from virtually anywhere. Chief executive officer for SingTel Bill Chang said that "at the end of the year, Singapore will be one mega hot spot."

Singapore launched a program last year called the Intelligent Nation program which is aimed at turning the country into one of the world's leading technology-focused nations. Singapore is focused on becoming a leader in communications technology, and from the looks of the nation-wide Wi-Fi network, Singapore is well on its way to becoming an example for other nations. Singapore says that the mega Wi-Fi network will be based on WiMAX, which is a high-speed, reliable and robust wireless standard being pushed by Intel and other companies.

At the moment, Singapore actually already has quite an impressive country-wide Wi-Fi network setup. For every square kilometer of the country, there is one public hotspot already in place. Since Singapore is physically small in size, this project is relative easy but the goal remains interesting.

Similar projects within the US and other projects are popping up as well. DailyTech previously reported that Google was in the process of launching a city-wide wireless network in the Bay Area. Expected to officially launch in September, Google is nearing completion on the wireless network in the city of Mountain View, California.

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...
By Sahrin on 8/30/2006 2:36:55 PM , Rating: 2
This is roughly the equivalent of a "Arlington-wide" WAN. Maybe I'm missing the symbolic importance, but saying "entire nation" here is kind of...




RE: ...
By The Cheeba on 8/30/2006 2:38:30 PM , Rating: 2
Yeah, another 5 million people getting free wifi here, another 5 million there, and pretty soon you're talking about a lot of people


RE: ...
By lennylim on 8/30/2006 4:23:12 PM , Rating: 2
SingTel is a public listed company (strong ties to and partly owned by the Singapore government), and an ISP as well. They won't be providing free wifi out of the goodness of their heart. Esp. since they're currently (at least as of last December when I visited) offering hotspot access at a pretty expensive rate.

I had no trouble connecting to unsecured APs when I needed Internet access when I was visiting.


RE: ...
By MobileZone on 8/30/2006 6:45:08 PM , Rating: 2
Yep, wifi access is pretty expensive in Sing. At the other hand, it is already possible to walk almost everywhere and find a Singtel hotspot signal.

Only make sure you're not going to blog some controversial stuff or access porn... :)


RE: ...
By MadDogMcKill on 8/31/2006 12:34:08 AM , Rating: 2
Nope.. not partly - Fully

http://www.temasekholdings.com.sg/our_investments/...

and here is the reason - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temasek_Holdings

In fact, I think at least half of the companies in Singapore end up being owned by Singapore govt.


RE: ...
By hrothgar22 on 8/30/2006 3:24:30 PM , Rating: 2
If you mean Arlington country, Virginia, you are way off. Arlington county is around 67 Km2 (26Mi2). Singapore's area is around (680km2), this is close to the area of New York City (~800km2). It is still fairly impressive since they are implementing WiMax. I believe most of the implementations of Wireless so far have been of the slower variety. I believe Toyko is also planning on implementing city-wide WiMax.


not that impressive
By noxipoo on 8/30/2006 1:49:46 PM , Rating: 1
the country isn't that big...




RE: not that impressive
By ChugokuOtaku on 8/30/2006 2:09:54 PM , Rating: 2
should've said "the whole city-state" instead


RE: not that impressive
By dice1111 on 8/30/2006 3:33:55 PM , Rating: 2
Thats right, I was there not to long ago. The whole damn counrty is the city. Crazy cool when landing there at night! City as far as you can see.


RE: not that impressive
By Hypernova on 8/30/2006 5:19:10 PM , Rating: 2
Corescent?

It won't be just a Hot spot city though, Singapore is HOT, last time I've been there the moment I walked out of the air conditioned gate of the airport the blast of hot street air nearly knocked me over. Standing on the outside was like standing in a sauna.


RE: not that impressive
By lennylim on 8/30/2006 5:29:32 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Singapore is HOT

The temperature actually seldom goes above 34C (93F) - its the 90% humidity that gets you. And of course it doesn't go below 25C (77F), and that is late at night.

Go up the mountains for the cooler air, you say? Highest spot in the country is about 160m (530 ft).

Personally instead of a country wide wimax network, I think they should build a dome over the entire country and air condition the heck out of it and call it a nation wide cool spot.


RE: not that impressive
By MobileZone on 8/30/2006 6:41:30 PM , Rating: 2
Yep, not that big and VERY HOT, but, covering the entire area is a big (and also hot) thing.



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