10-16-2006, 07:00 AM
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Contributing Editor
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 3,111
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Singapore To Provide Free WiFi For Two Years
"For many Singaporeans, whether at work or play, their lifestyle - from using cell phones to instant messaging - is already digital. The government wants to take one step further and make it all mobile. So, from January 2007, it will be rolling out wireless broadband Internet in all public spaces, called Wireless@SG, for free, for the first two years."
Just one more thing for Malaysians to envy about our southern neighbours - they get free access over the whole country while we have to live with patchy coverage and extortion...err...high access fees. Granted it's a pretty small country, but that hasn't stopped Singapore from rushing full steam ahead into the digital age. The government is also planning to subsidise PCs for poor families because "...at least 14 percent of households still do not have computers." :wink: Is broad coverage of wifi something you think your government should do, no matter the cost?
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"A planner is a gentle man, with neither sword nor pistol.
He walks along most daintily, because his balls are crystal."
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10-16-2006, 08:44 AM
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Neophyte
Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 3
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Grass is always greener...
Well, you might think Malaysia has it bad... wait till you see the situation in the land down under!
We pay AUD99 for 1GB (that's 2.7 * 99 RM) minimum (depending on carrier), 18 months-2 years contract! You pay RM99/month for unlimited with Digi or RM129/month for unlimited 3G with Maxis I believe, no contract. Nothing to complain about!!! That's one of the best prices around the world, although I believe the service is not reliable (but so is it here! Not sure about Sydney, but in Adelaide... quite certainly) There is also no EDGE services (most Windows Mobile phones!), until recently... with actual pricing with Telstra still unknown (the data pack pricing seems to apply only for 3G services. I'm not sure.).
So, I guess... the grass is always greener. Singapore's doing a great thing though. I just wish we have something like this elsewhere too! But heck, dream on! :P
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10-16-2006, 10:23 AM
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Developer & Designer, News Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 12,959
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Re: Grass is always greener...
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Originally Posted by tl47
There is also no EDGE services (most Windows Mobile phones!), until recently... with actual pricing with Telstra still unknown (the data pack pricing seems to apply only for 3G services. I'm not sure.).
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Telstra's EDGE pricing is the same as their GPRS pricing. The enhancement was simply tacked on quietly, so existing GPRS users could take advantage of it if their phone supported it. It wasn't announced publicly, primarily to avoid shadowing of the buzz surrounding Next G.
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10-16-2006, 11:18 AM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 57
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I posted about this a while back. I think it's great that we'll get free nationwide wifi, but I'm going to stay a little paranoid for a while and wait to see how the government handles all the security issues inherent to such a large area wifi network.
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10-16-2006, 02:20 PM
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Neophyte
Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 3
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Re: Grass is always greener...
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Originally Posted by Darius Wey
Telstra's EDGE pricing is the same as their GPRS pricing. The enhancement was simply tacked on quietly, so existing GPRS users could take advantage of it if their phone supported it. It wasn't announced publicly, primarily to avoid shadowing of the buzz surrounding Next G.
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If that is true, then that only bolsters my point even more: it's a whooping AUD99/month for 70MB/month or something ridiculous! I'm not so sure though. I really think their new data plan might apply to their GPRS/EDGE services now. (Please note they just updated their webpages on this in the last few days, but their website is nearly useless in terms of looking for such technical info, and I can't even find the link to gprs pricing now... girlsgonemobile had an article on pricing... but her's focused on the 3G services, and she updated the article with the new pricing now too.).
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10-16-2006, 02:25 PM
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Pontificator
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,202
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Re: Singapore To Provide Free WiFi For Two Years
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Originally Posted by Nurhisham Hussein
Is broad coverage of wifi something you think your government should do, no matter the cost?
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Definitely not. I think the US government and most others should focus on governing and don't fit the roll of service provider. I can think of so many other critical ways for government to spend it's limited resources.
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10-16-2006, 02:26 PM
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Neophyte
Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 3
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Ketsugi
I posted about this a while back. I think it's great that we'll get free nationwide wifi, but I'm going to stay a little paranoid for a while and wait to see how the government handles all the security issues inherent to such a large area wifi network. |
I can see the problems there... with censorship and peeking into messages/data being a possibility. Also, there's probably a high density of hacking-gurus in Asia.
I also wonder what's the plan after the two free years? Back to the original article though, I suspect Malaysia's telcos are considering wimax? That will be a step in the right direction I think. Sg's service won't be free after 2 years anyway... A good move by the govt to spur adoption of mobile networks though!
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10-16-2006, 03:03 PM
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Developer & Designer, News Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 12,959
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Re: Grass is always greener...
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Originally Posted by tl47
If that is true, then that only bolsters my point even more: it's a whooping AUD99/month for 70MB/month or something ridiculous! I'm not so sure though. I really think their new data plan might apply to their GPRS/EDGE services now. (Please note they just updated their webpages on this in the last few days, but their website is nearly useless in terms of looking for such technical info, and I can't even find the link to gprs pricing now... girlsgonemobile had an article on pricing... but her's focused on the 3G services, and she updated the article with the new pricing now too.).
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To be honest, I've given up on data at the moment. The costs are ludicrously high, and don't even compare to what parts of Asia and North America offer. :roll:
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10-16-2006, 03:14 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 48
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Re: Singapore To Provide Free WiFi For Two Years
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Originally Posted by Nurhisham Hussein
Is broad coverage of wifi something you think your government should do, no matter the cost?
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Absolutely not. I should not be forced at the point of a gun to pay for others' free WiFi usage.
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10-16-2006, 06:08 PM
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Pontificator
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 1,108
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Re: Singapore To Provide Free WiFi For Two Years
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Originally Posted by wbuch
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Nurhisham Hussein
Is broad coverage of wifi something you think your government should do, no matter the cost?
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Absolutely not. I should not be forced at the point of a gun to pay for others' free WiFi usage. |
Well that's a pretty silly statement. As a citizen you're obligated to pay for a lot of things that you may not use or agree with. Pacifists aren't excepted from having to pay for our trillion-dollar-a-year war machine, and people who don't like Congress are still paying their salaries.
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