The greater Taipei area will soon be blanketed in wireless Internet access covering 28km2, making it the largest wireless Internet zone area in the world, Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
Ma made the announcement at the opening ceremony of an online "brain-game contest" at Taipei City Hall.
"Every city in the world is striving to become a place with as many wireless Internet connection points as possible. In two days, Taipei will establish a wireless Internet zone that covers 5 percent of the city's most-populated area. From June or July next year, around 90 percent of these areas will be provided with wireless access," Ma said.
The 28km2 wireless coverage includes Taipei's Shihmending, Hsinyi and other areas around Taipei Main Station where 2,300 wireless Internet access points can be seen.
"In other countries, places where wireless Internet is provided, such as MacDonald's, hotels and schools, are called `hot points.' But Taipei itself has already become a `hot zone,'" Ma said.
He said that all the schools in Taipei will have wireless access and PDAs will also be provided with an Internet phone service.
"Taiwan is the best computer-hardware manufacturer in the world and more than 90 percent of wireless Internet ports are made here. Plus, because of the government's support of such a plan, Taipei is becoming a wireless city," Ma said.
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