free wifi @ flinders street, page-30

Hi guys found this article which was most interesting;
Gives an idea of the potential we are lookig at

The Straits Times: Wireless@SG signs up 100,000 in under a week Christine Dec 8th, 06, 09:36 AM #1


THE number of Wireless@SG users crossed the 100,000 mark yesterday, six days after the free public broadband service was rolled out.
Wireless@SG is a free service that allows people to surf the Internet at 600 wireless zones on the island. It is powered by three operators - iCell Network, QMax Communications and SingTel.

To get online at wireless Internet hot spots in public places such as hotels, malls and cafes, users are required to register with any of the three operators to obtain a user name and password. The service, to be expanded to cover 5,000 hot spots in three years, is part of the Government's drive to promote broadband use in Singapore.

All three operators said the Sitex information technology fair at Singapore Expo last weekend, which drew 740,000 visitors, was a significant boost to the sign-up rate. Booths advertising the service gave out freebies to entice new users.

A snaking queue of people formed in front of the QMax booth, for example, which was giving out webcams, airline vouchers and lucky draw coupons.

SingTel and iCell both organised lucky draws with prizes including a laptop, PDA phones, game consoles and cinema passes.

But all the three operators agreed that the take-up rate is likely to slow down after the initial hype.

Some spots are also hotter than others, said iCell's chief executive Ken Chua.

Marina Square and CityLink Mall - two shopping centres which are totally Wi-Fi enabled - were the hottest spots last weekend for the telco.

Last Saturday, iCell had to increase the bandwidth for Marina Square when huge traffic on the network slowed down the access speed.

The number has since settled to about 100 users a day at Marina Square. An average session is just over an hour.

At New York New York , an eatery at CityLink Mall, the number of laptop users in the cafe has risen 20 per cent to about 24 a day, said manager Conan Foo.

'But we don't chase away customers, no matter how long they stay to surf,' he said.

'We may just ask that they move to a smaller table.'