【2025 Archives】

Slowly025 Archives but surely, Australia's towns and cities are getting free Wi-Fi networks.

Melbourne is the latest, with the Victorian government announcing a free Wi-Fi pilot program on Thursday. It joins Adelaide, Perth and the Sydney suburb of Liverpool in having CBD-wide Wi-Fi.

Aren't you excited?

Branded "VicFreeWiFi," it will be the country's largest and fastest free Wi-Fi network, which includes services that have been operating in neighbouring Bendigo and Ballarat since December 2015.

The Melbourne service will cover CBD train stations, Bourke St Mall, Queen Victoria Market, and the South Wharf Promenade at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. And it's available right now.

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But of course, the question still remains as to how much Melbourne's "world-class" municipal Wi-Fi service will be used, and just exactly by whom.

In Helsinki, the city's fast free Wi-Fi (with download speeds of 24 megabits per second) is primarily used by tourists and visitors looking to avoid hefty roaming charges, according to Quartz. Many of its citizens have affordable mobile plans with generous data plans, and don't really need to use public Wi-Fi.

In New York City, free Wi-Fi helps to address social inequality. The largest municipal Wi-Fi network in the world, LinkNYC, is touted as helping bridging the "digital divide" between the city's wide range of economic classes.

You can also clock download speeds of more than 300 megabits per second -- much faster than many household and even enterprise internet connections in the city.

NYC's new internet street kiosks are also a wonder, even if some people are looking at porn on them.

Melbourne's program isn't quite as generous, or as fast. Network speeds are a minimum of 2 megabits per second, with pre-launch tests delivering peak speeds of almost 90 megabits per second, a Victorian government spokesperson told Mashable via email.

There's also a 250MB daily limit per device, which means you won't be able to get too far with your downloads.

Like the Helsinkians, city-dwelling Australians already have relatively cheap mobile plans with decent data allowances. It's again tourists will use it, or those poor souls who have run out of mobile data.

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Let's not also forget the major issue of security and privacy when it comes to using public Wi-Fi networks, which is even noted on the Victorian government's information page for the service.

In Sydney, the state government has installed free Wi-Fi on most ferry services and regional platforms at Central Station, while a 2010 trial at Circular Quay train station quietly disappeared.

We'll see if Melbournians take to their new W-Fi.