Claiming to be the nation's first "real" mobile city, Kaohsiung City yesterday inaugurated wireless Internet connections in parts of the city to provide free access in the public.
"I believe the wireless infrastructure will bring more benefits to our people and visitors," Kao-hsiung Mayor Frank Hsieh (
PHOTO: CHANG CHUNG-YI, TAIPEI TIMES
Hsieh tested the system while riding a boat on Kaohsiung's landmark Love River, and he said "the result is excellent ... the connection speed is faster than the broadband system I use at home."
The wireless service is currently available in or near the city government building, the City Council, the Cultural Center and Hsinkuang Wharf, said Tony Wu (吳國棟), chief operation officer of Easpnet Taiwan Inc (數位通國際網路). Easpnet became the contractor for the project after winning the bid in October.
By the end of next April, the service will be extended to downtown Lingya, Shinshing and Chienchin Districts. Kaohsiung's other eight districts will receive the service by the end of next year, giving the city 80 percent coverage, Wu said.
The mobile city project will cost the Kaohsiung City Government an estimated NT$93 million, Wu said. The service will be free for one year after the entire project is completed, or from the end of next year, he said.
The system will also be used to improve security. The wireless connection is linked to monitoring systems set in crossroads, a digital fire alert system, and a vehicle tracking system, which allows the police force and fire department to obtain information instantly.
The Taipei City government also has a similar plan to bring wireless connection to the whole city by the end of next year.
The government is currently testing the system in the area around the Taipei City Government building in Hsinyi District. By the end of this year, the service will be officially launched along 20 Mass Rapid Transportation stations.
The wireless infrastructure, however, has reportedly been less well received than expected by Taipei residents due to compatibility problems.
The Taipei City Government contracted different companies to build the wireless system in different areas. State-run Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) covers the general Hsinyi District, Qware Systems Inc (安源資訊) is in charge of MRT stations, while restaurants and coffee shops have their own wireless service providers, forcing users to apply for another user account when they enter another area.
One official at Easpnet who did not want to be named said this problem will not occur with Kaohsiung's wireless network. However, he acknowledged that access there is still not completely stable due to signal interference in the area.
The company will streamline this later to make the system run more smoothly, he said.
The government yesterday approved applications by Alphabet Inc’s Google to invest NT$27.08 billion (US$859.98 million) in Taiwan, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a statement. The Department of Investment Review approved two investments proposed by Google, with much of the funds to be used for data processing and electronic information supply services, as well as inventory procurement businesses in the semiconductor field, the ministry said. It marks the second consecutive year that Google has applied to increase its investment in Taiwan. Google plans to infuse NT$25.34 billion into Charter Investments Ltd (特許投資顧問) through its Singapore-based subsidiary Fructan Holdings Singapore Pte Ltd, and
SECOND-RATE: Models distilled from US products do not perform the same as the original and undo measures that ensure the systems are neutral, the US’ cable said The US Department of State has ordered a global push to bring attention to what it said are widespread efforts by Chinese companies, including artificial intelligence (AI) start-up DeepSeek (深度求索), to steal intellectual property from US AI labs, according to a diplomatic cable. The cable, dated Friday and sent to diplomatic and consular posts around the world, instructs diplomatic staff to speak to their foreign counterparts about “concerns over adversaries’ extraction and distillation of US AI models.” Distillation is the process of training smaller AI models using output from larger, more expensive ones to lower the costs of training a powerful new
Micron Technology Inc is a driving force pushing the US Congress to pass legislation that would put new export restrictions on equipment its Chinese competitors use to make their chips, according to people familiar with the matter. A US House of Representatives panel yesterday was to vote on the “MATCH Act,” a bill designed to close gaps in restrictions on chipmaking equipment. It would also pressure foreign companies that sell equipment to Chinese chipmaking facilities to align with export curbs on US companies like Lam Research Corp and Applied Materials Inc. The bill targets facilities operated by China’s ChangXin Memory Technologies Inc
Singapore-based ride-hailing and delivery giant Grab Holdings’ planned acquisition of Foodpanda’s Taiwan operations has yet to enter the formal review stage, as regulators await supplementary documents, the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said yesterday. Acting FTC Chairman Chen Chih-min (陳志民) told the legislature’s Economics Committee that although Grab submitted its application on March 27, the case has not been officially accepted because required materials remain incomplete. Once the filing is finalized, the FTC would launch a formal probe into the deal, focusing on issues such as cross-shareholding and potential restrictions on market competition, Chen told lawmakers. Grab last month announced that it would acquire
RSS