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Sydney to get free WiFi

zdnet.com.au — Sydney and other key cities in the Australian state of NSW will get free wireless broadband under a new government initiative mimicking San Francisco.

Bury

daria42 1 year 316 days ago, made popular 1 year 316 days ago

601 diggs
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Feej, on 10/12/2007, -1/+22Hmmmm, State election next year.........

About time though.
- jaydj, on 10/12/2007, -0/+17Damn it Bracks!!! Where's my WiFi???
  
  Translation for non-ozzies...
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Bracks
- QueenOfSwords, on 10/12/2007, -0/+15Agreed. Melbourne needs wifi!
- treelovinhippie, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8***** yeah... it's in Wollongong!!
  
  This may very well be the quickest tech upgrade in decades (usually we only see new technology/services about 5 years after the US lol).
  
  It will be interesting to see how they set it up though... what speeds, any download restrictions etc
- Timmyftw, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Looks like im voting for Iemma next year. My first time voting
- chewy5000, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10MELBOURNE! MELBOURNE! MELBOURNE! (said with demanding tone)
- ojk007, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10MELBOURNE MELBOURNE MELBOURNE
  
  Bracksy Wheres MY WiFi??
- ScoTTeh, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7If you live in Melbourne, Australia and want a WiFi WAN check out http://melbourne.wireless.org.au/
- sam380, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4brisvegas (brisbane) is getting fiber optics run through it .... but why not wi-fi as well ;(
- ojk007, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2wait brisi have FO? what the hell bracksy? weres my FO?!
- VermiciousKnid, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2That's too bad for Melbournia. Sydney pwns
- jaytea90, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2crappppp...I live near north parramatta, which is technically baulkham hills shire council, but i still have to get stuff managed through parramatta city council...please please please
- rickcarson, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I got something in the mail today that BigPond have just turned on Wireless Broadband in our area. Personally, I think it is BS (we are cut off from the rest of Melbourne by some big hills).
  
  Of course, BigPond also put something in my letter box earlier in the week saying that they were going to be doing ADSL 2 for $20 a month.
  
  They are such bald faced liars. It is incredible. They promised me half priced 1500 ADSL and delivered overpriced 256. Less than a sixth of the service they promised, for more than twice what they said it would cost.
  
  Churn baby, churn.
  
  Of course, when I did try to churn, turned out it was dependent on the 'carrier' ... which happened to be Telstra. Can you say "conflict of interest".
  
  So they turned down my churn (aka rapid transfer) _three times_, before I rang them up and did my nut at them. The next time I tried it worked. Imagine that.
  
  Amazing what the magic phrase* will do.
  
  *"Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman"
JWallsID6999, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6What happened to Google's free wifi?
- TheReport, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I think they got in a dispute with the local telcos of the bay area when they released their initial tests for citywide wifi. needless to say it was a limited release with only a handful of people testing it out. In good Google fashion the project is still in Beta and Someone else would have to give you more details about the project
gxcdesign, on 10/12/2007, -19/+3Bloody Hell Mate
- chaosmachine, on 10/12/2007, -15/+6that's not a knife..
- JWallsID6999, on 10/12/2007, -14/+6THIS is a knife!
  
  http://www.arrowheads.com/roadrunner/images/HUGE%20BOWIE%20KNIFE%20BB209_4843.JPG
Absolute0, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Too bad they won't be able to DO anything on it b/c of all that crazy legislation going on..
- GrimReeper, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7Yeah but the crazy legislation didnt stop the millions of aussies from illegally ripping CD's to put on ipod's. (Because of the free trade agreement with the United States this act is now legal.
  
  I wonder if this will stop war driving.
  
  Waits for Melbourne to get free WiFi....
nonokiaboy, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6b/c
0x0000ff, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12Great news for Australia, but I won't get my hopes up for anything actually functional.
LEDDY, on 10/12/2007, -2/+11i hope hobart get some sexy free wifi
- joshman5k, on 10/12/2007, -1/+27I didn't know tassy got power, let alone the internet!
- jaydj, on 10/12/2007, -0/+18anything sexy in tassie would be good....
- dtkelly, on 10/12/2007, -0/+20like your cousin??
- jaydj, on 10/12/2007, -1/+14yeah... like my... HEY! Is this a trick question?
- treelovinhippie, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2LOL, classic... poor Tasmania :D
ybisme, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5lol....hobart...

:p

Yea, heres hoping its something we can use..not some lag to death, underpowered connection..
jaydj, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10"In a statement, he said the state government would look to make the free Wi-Fi a reality in the next three years."

Three years? I guess they are expecting Telstra to win the contract.

Translation for non-ozzies: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telstra
chickentonight, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6I'll believe it when I see it.
plokij909, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6"...in 2008."
Don't hold your breath. Plenty could/will happen before then.
casemac, on 10/12/2007, -5/+0The costs cant be that much, why dont all cities or atleast the bigger ones all get free wifi
- ummagummas08, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3For serious! This is a step in the right direction. But I'm with ybisme, because we have internet at our school, and even just 20 people on it lags it to hell.
ABBondo, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1That is a good idea. It allows for instant access in any area. My only question is how quick will the internet speed actually be. Also, i wonder if "all" areas around and within the major areas will receive adequate coverage
cablefish, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2oh please let this be true.
Too bad WiMAX hasn't been picked up by more providers. Knock that modem down to a size that can actually fit in your laptop case, not require a fixed power source and I'd be all over that like... like something that's all over something else.
tgruber, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1Its about time that Sydney, Australia caught up to Pittsburgh.
- nadocollin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Seriously. I was just in Pittsburgh a week ago, and I was shocked to see the free WiFi banners everywhere. I tried it and while it was a tad slow, it was definitely usable.
estvir, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Uh, Brisbane too, thanks.

Sydney people are ungrateful. :P
- VermiciousKnid, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2I'm grateful I don't live in Brisbane
jono1, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Damn, might just move to Sydney. The best Canberra gets is this: http://the-riotact.com/?p=3656
- bigs, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3escape.... anywhere outside of Canberra! Even Adelaide if you have to!!
- t3hX, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Yeah, come to Adelaide - we have free Internode hotspots all around the CBD and other locations :D
Wizdum, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Being able to use my XDA Atom + Skype + Sydney-Wide WiFi to cut Optus out of the equation would make me a happy man.

To bad there's buckleys chance of it being good enough.

Translation for non aussies: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Buckley_%28convict%29
- ojk007, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2depressing thing, untill now i never actually knew who or what buckley was.
  Thank you so much!
myszka716, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2free internet in a city yet aiports cant figure it out. hmmmmm....
archer75, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Portland, OR is getting free wifi installed now. As are many other US cities.
osc1882, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Messed up, digg down please.
osc1882, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Free wifi..... to not pirate music with.
mitchellchris, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1hopefully we can have it like that in the states one day too.
KingBelly, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Crap, it's like the entire digg crowd is australian just for now. I like it!
- rickcarson, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Note to non Australians: that whole slapping of prawns on the barbie? Complete fiction. I've never seen an Aussie do this. Definitely do not stuff your modem or your router with raw prawns. Neither should you "come the raw prawn with me mate", which sounds utterly filthy no matter how you look at it.
  
  In fact, lets make this simple. Just rule out anything whatsoever to do with prawns. Thank you for your co-operation.
lobbster, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3W000000T i can head shot those noobs in the 'gong for free now
DataLifePlus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Marked as 'Inaccurate' due to the law of TANSTAAFL. There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch, especially when it's being provided by the government.
- imjustsayin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3My thoughts exactly.
  
  The citizens are still paying for their Internet access. The difference is now it's not optional.
Akaricloud, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2@KingBelly, Im loving it too

I think this initiative is in response to the fact that Australia has one of the highest rate of modem uses, and one of the lowest of broadband usage in the developed world.

I would never use WiFi anyway;
A) I live in the Bush and my 256/64k is good enough
B) 99% of all Australian's would never have any reason to need it.

Still, It's one of the better things the government is implementing.

(2nd test coming up, poms are gonna get thrashed)
- rowanjl, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Thats because all of the providers suck balls, which in turn is caused by Telstra pwning the "tubes"... which is only going to get worse since it's being privatized which in plain English means they're now profit driven not quality driven... not that they has much quality left to begin with, but you get the picture.
- treelovinhippie, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Yeah I think Wifi won't be a good long-term solution for Australian broadband. The problem is our country is too big and the population spread a lot.
  
  What they need is BPL (Broadband over powerlines)... as soon as that gets implemented everyone with access to regular powerlines will be able to get up to 100Gbps. That'll explode all sorts of opportunities for things like VOIP, IPTV, and various other Net-services for Aussies.
goosnargh, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0"mimicking San Francisco"

so that explains the gay and lesbian mardi gras...
sfacets, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I'll bet people $100 that it'll never happen.
Garfunkel, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1oh boy, it MAY be implemented during my last year of uni at the 'gong assuming this happens...
grumpyrain, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1What!?! A public works project where they don't have to dig a tunnel and wreck surface roads with closures, I mean bus and cycle lanes? This will surely be out of place.
DougO, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Government provided free wifi? Can anyone honestly see this working? I can see a frenzy of special interest groups competing to have sites banned that affect their particular sensibilities. This service will get so heavily censored, it will be useless.
wonboodoo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Sydney is a sprawling suburbia. While it's great for those living in the CBD and selected suburbs, the truth is that the vast majority of Sydney's population will not be able to use it unless visiting those places.
Johnny84, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0With free wireless coming online in more and more places, it makes you wonder when you'll get it in your hometown or when it will be nationwide. I know i would certainly like it in my hometown. In addition to this, with this free service i'm sure there are advertising revenue sturctures that could easily and definitly be taken advantage of by the government.
commonsense2009, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0First of all, is it free? Or is it paid for by the government?
Second...wifi provided by the government will be much more closely monitored then individuals paying for internet. As such, this will probably make it much easier for the government or the one and only wifi provider to give up names and IP addresses to the RIAA and MIAA.
ephemerae, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Go Sydney. Sexy time!
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Sydney to get free WiFi

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