Selected visitors from Singapore and U.S. can enjoy free public Wi-Fi when they visit each other as part of a month-long trial, said the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) in a statement on Monday.

Under the city Wi-Fi roaming project, Singapore visitors will be able to roam automatically and securely between over 1,000 free public Wi-Fi hotspots in cities including San Jose, San Francisco and New York from Aug. 22 to Sept. 21. Vice versa, selected U.S. visitors to Singapore can also connect to Wireless@SG, Singapore's free public WiFi hotspots.

This is the first of its kind for foreign visitors, IDA noted, adding that U.S. network T-Mobile subscribers can simply perform a one-time setup on their SIM devices and connect automatically to Wireless@SG around 290 hotspots at the designated test areas. All other U.S. visitors can sign up for a free account and connect to Wi-Fi by following the steps on IDA's website.

The trial is taking place in conjunction with the Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) City Wi-Fi Roaming Project. The project is a supporting activity of World Wi-Fi Day initiative, which aims to deliver the vision of connected cities around the world.

"There is strong synergy between IDA and WBA in our drive to continually enhance the wireless connectivity experience for users. 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 SmartNation," Mr Khoong Hock Yun, IDA's Assistant Chief Executive said.

Source : XINHUA