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Seoul Metropolitan Government said Wednesday that it is now providing free Wi-Fi on almost all buses running in the capital, even small green local district buses.
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| People get on a local district bus in Jongro-gu, Seoul, in this 2018 file photo. The Seoul Metropolitan Government said it has installed free Wi-Fi on all 1,499 of such buses plying 235 routes across Seoul. Korea Times file |
For intra-city buses and those connecting Seoul with neighboring cities, the service is available on about 6,000 vehicles, 81 percent of the total ― the city government plans to make Wi-Fi available on all such buses next year.
Users can choose to access the service in two ways ― the open PublicWiFi@Seoul or secure PublicWiFiSecure@Seoul. The ID and password for the secure mode on district buses is "seoul," and on intra-city buses, "wifi."
The city recommended, even in secure mode, not to use internet services that require personal information or make financial transactions because it is a public network.
Expanding public Wi-Fi service is a part of the city's efforts to improve information accessibility and reduce telecommunication costs. It has pledged to establish a "smart city" infrastructure by 2022 by providing free Wi-Fi at all public places in the city.
The city government will established the network service at all central-lane bus stops and 24 large parks by next year, and about 1,300 welfare facilities by 2022.
"We hope to expand citizens' communication rights by allowing them to use mobile data without concerns about costs," Lee Won-mok, a director of Seoul's smart city policy division, said in a statement.
