The Taipei City Government yesterday said it fined the provider of its free wireless service more than NT$250,000 because of poor signals and promised to enhance the service, including increasing the number of hotspots around the city.
The service, called “TPE-Free,” was launched in July at MRT stations and expanded to outdoor areas last month, including major boulevards and commercial districts.
While the service has attracted more than 830,000 registrants for free accounts each month, an increasing number of users have complained about poor signals.
Taipei City’s Department of Information Technology Commissioner Chang Chia-sheng (張家生) acknowledged the poor quality of its city-wide free wireless service and said the department last month fined the service provider, Global Mobile Corp, NT$250,000 for failing to provide stable signals at hotspots in accordance with the contract.
The department has also sent staff to monitor the stability of the signals every day to ensure the quality of the service.
The department has set up 2,000 access points around the city and the service has a 512Kbps connection speed. Chang said the department would demand Global Mobile increase the number of access points and improve the service.
Local and foreign residents can register for free accounts for the wireless service using their mobile phone number, while visitors from abroad can use their passport number to apply for the service at Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) and visitor information centers throughout the city.
Chang Yu-huei (張郁慧), chief secretary of the department, acknowledged the difficulties receiving stable wireless signals at outdoor areas and said the city would seek to resolve the issue and further expand the service to night markets and public parks.
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