IDA is enabling selected US visitors to connect to free wifi to Wireless@SG via the SIM-login feature for the first time. The inaugural city Wi-Fi roaming project is rolled out by the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) in partnership with the Land Transport Authority, telco M1, Sentosa Development Corporation and Singapore Telecommunications. The feature will be made available from 22 August to 21 September as part of this trial. The option is result of a month-long trial led by local industry regulator, Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA), that also involves Land Transport Authority (LTA), Sentosa Development Corporation (SDC), as well as local telcos M1 and Singtel. T-Mobile is among preferred US data roaming partners for both Singapore telcos.
T-Mobile US subscribers can simply perform a one-time setup on their SIM devices, and connect automatically to Wireless@SG around 290 hotspots at the designated test areas – Sentosa and major MRT stations2.
All other US visitors can sign up for a free account and connect to all Wireless@SG hotspots. The login feature taps the user’s SIM card as the credential, performing a one-time setup on the mobile device before automatically connecting to Wireless@SG. Registration is not required.
The trial is taking place in conjunction with the Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) City Wi-Fi Roaming Project. Singapore visitors will be able to roam automatically and securely between free public Wi-Fi hotspots in San Jose, San Francisco and New York from 22 August to 21 September.
There are more than 1,000 hotspots in total with 280 in downtown San Francisco, 500 in San Jose, 200 in New York. Logging into the free public Wi-Fi hotspots in the participating US cities is easy. Visitors simply need to download a configuration file3 and perform a one-time setup for auto-connection to the participating cities’ hotspots.
The City Wi-Fi Roaming Project is a supporting activity of World Wi-Fi Day initiative. Both initiatives are backed by the Connected City Advisory Board, which aims to deliver the vision of Connected Cities around the world.
Mr Khoong Hock Yun, IDA’s Assistant Chief Executive said,
Trialling the SIM-login method for foreign visitors is something new to us, and we hope to gather new insights, fine-tune technical challenges, and enhance the Wireless@SG program further.
