Internet! We love us some internet. Can’t get enough of it. Yum yum, get it into us.
And if you’re absolutely sick of spotty 4G and 3G reception in key public areas, then Melbourne might be your place to be from today onwards.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has today officially switched on the first stage of a new WiFi network that will serve internet access free-of-charge to anyone passing through the Melbourne CBD.
The $11million Victorian Free WiFi Pilot has been running successfully in regional centres Bendigo and Ballarat since December of last year, with over one million sessions recorded in the nine months since the trial period commenced.
Now, the Andrews Labor Government is set to roll it out across the capital, with the first of many WiFi access points switched on today. The initial network covers all Melbourne CBD train stations, the Bourke Street Mall, the Queen Victoria Market, and the South Wharf Promenade at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.
Once completed, the WiFi network will cover 600,000 square metres across three cities, making it the largest WiFi network of its kind in Australia.
Premier Andrews announced the new network in a post to his ever-active Facebook page a short while ago.
In a statement to media, the Victorian Minister for Small Business, Innovation, and Trade Philip Dalidakis heralded the arrival of the new WiFi network, as the city prepares to host the AFL Grand Final this weekend.
“This is just another reason why Victoria is the country’s home of innovation and technology – we really do have the best of everything, not only in Melbourne but our regional cities as well.”
“Whether visitors are coming into town to go shopping, eat in Melbourne’s famous laneways or head to the AFL Grand Final this long weekend, they’ll all be able to access and enjoy the fastest free Wi-Fi in the country.”
You can look up where the free WiFi is available by visiting the Victorian Government’s interactive network map here.
Source: Daniel Andrews/Facebook.
Photo: Darrian Traynor/Getty.
