Latest Wi-Fi plans may have connection troubles

Beijing plans to upgrade 600 digital information booths and introduce free Wi-Fi into 15,000 telephone booths, although it may take some time for the project to be fully realized, according to China Unicom Thursday.

In addition to the Wi-Fi, the booths will include touch-screens for information searching, said the Beijing Municipal Commission of City Administration and Environment.

Wang Wenjing, media officer from the commission, told the Global Times that the telephone and information booths need to be upgraded to meet high international standards.

"Despite the rising amount of mobile users, this is not going to be something that is left unused. Since cosmopolitan cities like New York also has a Wi-Fi telephone boxes, Beijing needs them too," said Wang.

Tang Liuming, press officer from Beijing Unicom, the company involved in the project, said there are only 12 demonstration telephone booths with Wi-Fi in the outlying district of Shunyi.

"The construction work of the 12 booths is almost done, apart from the Wi-Fi devices inside," he said.

"But it will probably take us a month to get through the complicated procedures of the local electric power company," said Tang.

Although Beijing Unicom is responsible for all the construction fees, Tang said that it is not just about Beijing Unicom, but many government organizations such as electric power companies and the municipal administration offices.

The booths are in Shunyi at present as the cost is much cheaper compared to downtown Beijing, he said.　

Jiang Xue, who works as a media officer for a student drama festival, thinks the scheme is a good idea.　

"This is a good device, especially in an age when the iPhone is so popular," she said.

"But older people might not find it easy to use the touch-screens; they may need assistance to access the service," Jiang noted.

Free Wi-Fi projects in Beijing have been beset with problems, and the public have often criticized the service for being slow or unobtainable.

The government announced in October 2011 that seven city areas including Xidan and Wangfujing would be covered by free Wi-Fi by November 2011, but so far the project has failed to materialize.

At the time, telecom experts told the Global Times that such projects often failed as they are free and therefore the quality is not good enough.