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Taipei goes Wi-Fi
HP wins contract to roll out wireless access across the city

By Reuters

Published: Monday 08 November 2004

Taipei plans to make wireless internet access available across the Taiwan capital by the end of 2005, joining a small number of cities offering Wi-Fi networks.

The network will reach almost 90 per cent of the capital's population of three million and aims to make accessing the internet as easy as using mobile phones, a project coordinator said on Friday.

Andy Lai, project leader for a Hewlett-Packard consulting team working with the Taipei City Government, said: "In most cities in the world the coverage is small, but Taipei's [network] is designed for a population of 2.6 million".

New York, San Francisco, Amsterdam and Jerusalem are among cities offering or planning citywide networks.

Taiwan's Q-Ware, which won Taipei's tender to build the network, plans to spend $70m on infrastructure, setting up 15,000 to 20,000 access points around the city, according to HP. Q-Ware will charge users for access.

HP said it would work with Intel, Microsoft and Cisco Systems to implement the "M-City" project.