A municipal wireless network is a citywide

wireless network A wireless network is a computer network that uses wireless data connections between network nodes. Wireless networking allows homes, telecommunications networks, and business installations to avoid the costly process of introducing cables int ...

. This usually works by providing

municipal broadband A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

via

Wi-Fi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for Wireless LAN, local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by ...

to large parts or all of a municipal area by deploying a

wireless mesh network A wireless mesh network (WMN) is a communications network made up of radio nodes organized in a mesh topology. It can also be a form of wireless ad hoc network. Chai Keong Toh Ad Hoc Mobile Wireless Networks, Prentice Hall Publishers, 2002. ...

. The typical deployment design uses hundreds of

wireless access point In Computer networking device, computer networking, a wireless access point (WAP) (also just access point (AP)) is a networking hardware device that allows other Wi-Fi devices to connect to a wired network or wireless network. As a standalone ...

s deployed outdoors, often on poles. The operator of the network acts as a

wireless internet service provider A wireless Internet service provider (WISP) is an Internet service provider with a network based on wireless networking. Technology may include commonplace Wi-Fi wireless mesh networking, or proprietary equipment designed to operate over open ...

Overview

Municipal wireless networks go far beyond the existing piggybacking opportunities available near public libraries and some coffee shops. The basic premise of carpeting an area with wireless service in urban centers is that it is more economical to the community to provide the service as a utility rather than to have individual households and businesses pay private firms for such a service. Such networks are capable of enhancing city management and public safety, especially when used directly by city employees in the field. They can also be a social service to those who cannot afford private high-speed services. When the network service is free and a small number of clients consume a majority of the available capacity, operating and regulating the network might prove difficult. In 2003, Verge Wireless formed an agreement with Tropos Networks to build a municipal wireless networks in the downtown area of

Baton Rouge Baton Rouge ( ; , ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It had a population of 227,470 at the 2020 United States census, making it List of municipalities in Louisiana, Louisiana's second-m ...

, Louisiana. Carlo MacDonald, the founder of Verge Wireless, suggested that it could provide cities a way to improve economic development and developers to build mobile applications that can make use of faster bandwidth. Verge Wireless built networks for Baton Rouge, New Orleans, and other areas. Some applications include wireless security cameras, police mug shot software, and location-based advertising. In 2007, some companies with existing

cell site A cell site, cell phone tower, cell base tower, or cellular base station is a cellular frequencies, cellular-enabled mobile device site where antenna (electronics), antennas and electronic communications equipment are placed (typically on a Rad ...

s offered high-speed wireless services where the laptop owner purchased a PC card or adapter based on

EV-DO Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO, EVDO, etc.) is a telecommunications standard for the wireless transmission of data through radio signals, typically for broadband Internet access. EV-DO is an evolution of the CDMA2000 ( IS-2000) standard which ...

cellular data receivers or

WiMAX Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) is a family of wireless broadband communication standards based on the IEEE 802.16 set of standards, which provide physical layer (PHY) and media access control (MAC) options. The WiMA ...

rather than 802.11b/g. A few high-end laptops at that time featured built-in support for these newer protocols. WiMAX is designed to implement a

metropolitan area network A metropolitan area network (MAN) is a computer network that interconnects users with computer resources in a geographic region of the size of a metropolitan area. The term MAN is applied to the interconnection of local area networks (LANs) in ...

(MAN) while 802.11 is designed to implement a wireless

local area network A local area network (LAN) is a computer network that interconnects computers within a limited area such as a residence, campus, or building, and has its network equipment and interconnects locally managed. LANs facilitate the distribution of da ...

(LAN). However, the use of cellular networks is expensive for the consumers, as they are often on limited

data plan A data plan is a subscription plan from a cellular or other mobile service provider to provide internet data and connectivity. Formatting Data plans are usually created by a contract between the telecommunications carrier and the user of the ...

s. In the 2010s larger cities embraced the

smart city A smart city is an urban area that uses digital technology to collect data and operate services. Data is collected from citizens, devices, buildings, or cameras. Applications include traffic and transportation systems, power plants, utilities ...

concept to tackle problems such as

traffic congestion Traffic congestion is a condition in transport that is characterized by slower speeds, longer trip times, and increased vehicular queueing. Traffic congestion on urban road networks has increased substantially since the 1950s, resulting in m ...

, crime, encouraging economic growth, responding to the effects of climate change and improving the delivery of city services. However, by 2018 it has become clear that the private sector could not be relied upon to build up city-wide wireless networks to meet the

objectives of municipal governments and public utility providers.

Finance

The construction of municipal wireless networks is a significant part of their lifetime costs. Usually, a private firm works with

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

to construct a network and operate it. Financing is usually shared by both the private firm and the municipal government. Once operational, the service may be free to users via public finance or advertising, or may be a paid service. Among deployed networks, usage as measured by number of distinct users has been shown to be moderate to light. Private firms serving multiple cities sometimes maintain an account for each user, and allow the user a limited amount of mobile service in the cities covered. As of 2007 some Muni WiFi deployments are delayed as the private and public partners negotiate the business model and financing.

Corporate city-wide wireless networks

Google WiFi is entirely funded by Google. Despite a failed attempt to provide citywide WiFi through a partnership with internet service provider Earthlink in 2007, the company claims that they are working to provide a wireless network for the city of San Francisco, California, although there is no specified completion date. Some other projects that are still in the planning stages have pared back their planned coverage from 100% of a municipal area to only densely commercially zoned areas. One of the most ambitious planned projects is to provide wireless service throughout

Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that is a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical area of the Santa Clara Valley ...

, but the winner of the bid seems ready to request that the 40 cities involved help cover more of the cost, which has raised concerns that the project will ultimately be too slow to market to be a success. Advances in technology in 2005–2007 may allow

wireless community network Wireless community networks or wireless community projects or simply community networks, are non-centralized, self-managed and collaborative networks organized in a grassroots fashion by communities, non-governmental organizations and cooperatives ...

projects to offer a viable alternative. Such projects have an advantage in that, as they do not have to negotiate with government entities, they have no contractual obligations for coverage. A promising example is Meraki's demonstration in San Francisco, which already claims 20,000 distinct users as of October 2007. In 2009, Microsoft and Yahoo also provided free wireless to select regions in the United States. Yahoo's free WiFi was made available for one year to the Times Square area in New York City beginning November 10, 2009. Microsoft made free WiFi available to select airports and hotels across the United States, in exchange for one search on the Bing search engine by the user. The City of Adelaide in South Australia in collaboration with the South Australian Government operate a meshed network "Adelaide Free WIFI. For the past five years the network attracts some 8,000 daily users as the networks popularity continues to grow despite the proliferation of 4G technology.

Criticism and externalities

Municipal wireless networks face opposition from telecommunications providers, particularly in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

. In the 2000s telecommunications providers argued that it is neither economical nor legal for municipal governments to own or operate such businesses. The dominant type of wireless networks are the private wireless local area networks (WLANs), for which individuals or businesses pay a subscription to a local carrier. In 2006 the US

Federal Trade Commission The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) United States antitrust law, antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. It ...

expressed concerns about such private-public partnerships as trending towards a franchise monopoly. Within the United States, providing a municipal wireless network was not recognized as a priority. Some have argued that the benefits of public approach may exceed the costs, similar to

cable television Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with bro ...

. In the early 2010s concerns were articulated that a considerable percentage of the world population did not have access to affordable Internet access. Despite the growing digitalization of business and government services, 37 percent of the European and 22 percent of the

north American North America is a continent in the Northern and Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Caribbean Sea, and to the sou ...

population did not have affordable access to the Internet in 2009. Because local governments and municipalities in rural economiess either could not fund wireless networks or did not consider it a priority, numerous communities across the world have built and funded autonomous community wireless networks (CWNs), taking advantage of the free 2.4 GHz spectrum and

open source software Open-source software (OSS) is Software, computer software that is released under a Open-source license, license in which the copyright holder grants users the rights to use, study, change, and Software distribution, distribute the software an ...

. The former

New York state New York, also called New York State, is a state in the northeastern United States. Bordered by New England to the east, Canada to the north, and Pennsylvania and New Jersey to the south, its territory extends into both the Atlantic Ocean and ...

politician and lobbyist

Thomas M. Reynolds Thomas M. Reynolds (born September 3, 1950) is an American politician from the U.S. state of New York, formerly representing the state's 27th and 26th Congressional districts in the United States House of Representatives. Reynolds was chairm ...

argues that unintended

externalities In economics, an externality is an indirect cost (external cost) or indirect benefit (external benefit) to an uninvolved third party that arises as an effect of another party's (or parties') activity. Externalities can be considered as unpriced ...

are possible as a result of local governments providing Internet service to their constituents. A private service provider could choose to offer limited or no service to a region if that region's largest city opted to provide free Internet service, thus eliminating the potential customer base. The private sector receives no money from taxpayers, so there isn't competition. The lack of competition prevents other municipalities in that region from benefiting from the services of the private provider. The smaller public municipalities would at the same time not benefit from the free service provided by the larger city because it is designed to be subsidized by taxpayers and not concerned about the maximization of profits. The broadband provided by the government isn't largely supported to create an income on top of the private sector not being competed with enough to make a profit. Thus, making both municipal wireless networks anticompetitive.

Cities with municipal wireless service

In many cases several points or areas are covered, without blanket area coverage.

Africa

Gaborone Gaborone ( , , ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Botswana, largest city of Botswana, with a population of 246,325 based on the 2022 census, about 10% of the total population of Botswana. Its metropolitan area is home to 534, ...

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

- rolling out free Wi-Fi to the whole city. *

Francistown Francistown is the second-largest city in Botswana, with a population of about 103,417 inhabitants and 147,122 inhabitants in its agglomeration at the 2022 census. It is located in eastern Botswana, about north-northeast from the capital, Gabo ...

also the city of Botswana has the same initiative. *

Luxor, Egypt Luxor is a city in Upper Egypt. Luxor had a population of 263,109 in 2020, with an area of approximately and is the capital of the Luxor Governorate. It is among the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. Luxor has frequently be ...

- pilot, paid service in tourist areas *

Sharm el-Sheikh Sharm El Sheikh (, , literally "bay of the Sheikh"), alternatively rendered Sharm el-Sheikh, Sharm el Sheikh, or Sharm El-Sheikh, is an Egyptian city on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula, in South Sinai Governorate, on the coastal strip alo ...

, Egypt - pilot, paid service, tourist areas, EgyNet *

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

City of Johannesburg The City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality () is a metropolitan municipality that manages the local governance of Johannesburg, the largest city in South Africa. It is divided into several branches and departments in order to expedite se ...

is currently rolling out free Wi-Fi to many suburbs as well as the city center. *

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

the City of Tswhane has offered its free Wi-Fi to residents around the City, TshWi-Fi *

Mombasa Mombasa ( ; ) is a coastal city in southeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean. It was the first capital of British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital status in 1907. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town is ...

, Kenya

East Asia

China

Free public WiFi in tourist areas of big cities, railway stations, airports, and governmental facilities in

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

Tianjin Tianjin is a direct-administered municipality in North China, northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the National Central City, nine national central cities, with a total population of 13,866,009 inhabitants at the time of the ...

Harbin Harbin, ; zh, , s=哈尔滨, t=哈爾濱, p=Hā'ěrbīn; IPA: . is the capital of Heilongjiang, China. It is the largest city of Heilongjiang, as well as being the city with the second-largest urban area, urban population (after Shenyang, Lia ...

Shenyang Shenyang,; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ; formerly known as Fengtian formerly known by its Manchu language, Manchu name Mukden, is a sub-provincial city in China and the list of capitals in China#Province capitals, provincial capital of Liaonin ...

Shenzhen Shenzhen is a prefecture-level city in the province of Guangdong, China. A Special economic zones of China, special economic zone, it is located on the east bank of the Pearl River (China), Pearl River estuary on the central coast of Guangdong ...

Kunming Kunming is the capital and largest city of the province of Yunnan in China. The political, economic, communications and cultural centre of the province, Kunming is also the seat of the provincial government. During World War II, Kunming was a Ch ...

Hangzhou Hangzhou, , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ; formerly romanized as Hangchow is a sub-provincial city in East China and the capital of Zhejiang province. With a population of 13 million, the municipality comprises ten districts, two counti ...

Suzhou Suzhou is a major prefecture-level city in southern Jiangsu province, China. As part of the Yangtze Delta megalopolis, it is a major economic center and focal point of trade and commerce. Founded in 514 BC, Suzhou rapidly grew in size by the ...

Wuxi Wuxi ( zh, s=无锡, p=Wúxī, ) is a city in southern Jiangsu, China. As of the 2024 census, it had a population of 7,495,000. The city lies in the southern Yangtze delta and borders Lake Tai. Notable landmarks include Lihu Park, the Mt. Lings ...

Nanjing Nanjing or Nanking is the capital of Jiangsu, a province in East China. The city, which is located in the southwestern corner of the province, has 11 districts, an administrative area of , and a population of 9,423,400. Situated in the Yang ...

Xi'an Xi'an is the list of capitals in China, capital of the Chinese province of Shaanxi. A sub-provincial city on the Guanzhong plain, the city is the third-most populous city in Western China after Chongqing and Chengdu, as well as the most populou ...

Chengdu Chengdu; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ; Chinese postal romanization, previously Romanization of Chinese, romanized as Chengtu. is the capital city of the Chinese province of Sichuan. With a ...

Chongqing ChongqingPostal Romanization, Previously romanized as Chungking ();. is a direct-administered municipality in Southwestern China. Chongqing is one of the four direct-administered municipalities under the State Council of the People's Republi ...

Fuzhou Fuzhou is the capital of Fujian, China. The city lies between the Min River (Fujian), Min River estuary to the south and the city of Ningde to the north. Together, Fuzhou and Ningde make up the Eastern Min, Mindong linguistic and cultural regi ...

Ningbo Ningbo is a sub-provincial city in northeastern Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. It comprises six urban districts, two satellite county-level cities, and two rural counties, including several islands in Hangzhou Bay and the Eas ...

Foshan Foshan (, ; Chinese: 佛山) is a prefecture-level city in central Guangdong Province, China. The entire prefecture covers and had a population of 9,498,863 as of the 2020 census. The city is part of the western side of the Pearl River Delta m ...

Dalian Dalian ( ) is a major sub-provincial port city in Liaoning province, People's Republic of China, and is Liaoning's second largest city (after the provincial capital Shenyang) and the third-most populous city of Northeast China (after Shenyang ...

Changchun Changchun is the capital and largest city of Jilin, Jilin Province, China, on the Songliao Plain. Changchun is administered as a , comprising seven districts, one county and three county-level cities. At the 2020 census of China, Changchun ha ...

Qingdao Qingdao, Mandarin: , (Qingdao Mandarin: t͡ɕʰiŋ˧˩ tɒ˥) is a prefecture-level city in the eastern Shandong Province of China. Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, Qingdao was long an important fortress. In 1897, the city was ceded to G ...

Yantai Yantai, formerly known as Chefoo, is a coastal prefecture-level city on the Shandong Peninsula in northeastern Shandong province of the People's Republic of China. Lying on the southern coast of the Bohai Strait, Yantai borders Qingdao ...

Dongguan Dongguan,; pinyin: alternately romanized via Cantonese as Tungkun, is a prefecture-level city in central Guangdong Province, China. An important industrial city in the Pearl River Delta, Dongguan borders the provincial capital of Guangzhou t ...

Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...

Huangshan Huangshan ( zh, s=黄山),Bernstein, pp. 125–127. literally meaning the Yellow Mountain(s), is a mountain range in southern Anhui province in eastern China. It was originally called "Yishan", and it was renamed because of a legend that Em ...

Hefei Hefei is the Capital city, capital of Anhui, China. A prefecture-level city, it is the political, economic, and cultural center of Anhui. Its population was 9,369,881 as of the 2020 census. Its built-up (or ''metro'') area is made up of four u ...

Guiyang Guiyang; Mandarin pronunciation: ; Chinese postal romanization, alternatively as Kweiyang is the capital of Guizhou, Guizhou province in China. It is centrally located within the province, on the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau, eastern part of the Yun ...

, and

Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

- most are subscribed, paid services, but free service in selected governmental facilities is also available *

- city network in tourist areas, governmental facilities, and the districts of Jiading, Minhang, Pudong, Songjiang, Baoshan, and Puxi are covered. Public WiFi in various shopping malls, restaurants, stores, along with Pudong Airport, Hongqiao Airport, and all railway stations. *

- Citywide network covers most districts, including downtown, along with public WiFi by stores, shopping malls, and restaurants, along with Government Facilities, transportation centers, and

Beijing Capital International Airport Beijing Capital International Airport is the busier of the two international airports serving Beijing, the capital city of China (the other one being Beijing Daxing International Airport). The airport is located northeast of downtown Beijing ...

. *

- Citywide network, along with Tourist areas and railway stations including Tianjin Binhai International Airport *

- Network in downtown, railway stations, Shopping malls, and

Harbin Taiping International Airport Harbin Taiping International Airport is an international airport serving Harbin, the capital of Northeast China’s Heilongjiang province. The airport handled 20,431,432 passengers in 2018, making it the 20th busiest airport in mainland Chi ...

- Railway Stations, Tourist Areas, Shopping malls, and

Shenyang Taoxian International Airport Shenyang Taoxian International Airport is an international airport serving Shenyang, the capital of Northeast China’s Liaoning province. It is located about south of the city center in Hunnan District. It is a airline hub, hub for China So ...

- Limited to Downtown, Tourist areas, Shopping malls, railway stations, and

Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport — formerly Shenzhen Huangtian Airport — is an international airport serving the city of Shenzhen in South Central China’s Guangdong province. It is on the east bank of the Pearl River in Bao'an Di ...

- Downtown WiFi, tourist areas, railway stations, and

Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport is an international airport serving Hangzhou, a major city in the Yangtze River Delta region and the capital of East China’s Zhejiang province.

- Downtown WiFi, tourist areas, and railway stations. *

- Sunan Shuofang International Airport, Downtown, Tourist areas, railway stations, and shopping malls. *

- Downtown, along with full district coverage, tourist areas, Railway stations, shopping malls, plazas, and

Nanjing Lukou International Airport Nanjing Lukou International Airport is an international airport serving Nanjing, the capital of East China’s Jiangsu province, and a major airport serving the Yangtze River Delta area. As of 2020, it is the 12th busiest civil airport in ...

- Downtown, tourist areas, railway stations, shopping malls, and

Xi'an Xianyang International Airport Xi'an Xianyang International Airport is an international airport serving the city of Xi'an, the capital of Northwest China’s Shaanxi province, as well as the whole Guanzhong area. Covering an area of , Xi’an Airport has four terminals: T1 ...

- Coverage in many areas, including downtown, plazas, and tourist areas, including

Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport (; traditionally as Chengdu Airport) is one of two international airports serving Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province in Southwestern China, with the other being Chengdu Tianfu International Airpo ...

- Downtown coverage, railway stations, tourist areas, and

Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport is the main international airport serving the city of Chongqing in Southwestern China. It is located in Yubei, Chongqing, about north of the Chongqing urban center. The airport is a major aviation h ...

- Coverage in downtown, railway stations, tourist areas, and Fuzhou Changle International Airport *

- Tourist areas, railway stations, tourist areas, and Ningbo Lishe International Airport *

- Downtown Coverage, Tourist Areas, railway stations, and Foshan Shadi Airport *

- Downtown Coverage, railway stations, tourist areas, and

Dalian Zhoushuizi International Airport Dalian Zhoushuizi International Airport is an international airport serving the city of Dalian in Northeast China’s Liaoning province. It is located in Ganjingzi District, about northwest of the city center. In 2018 the airport handled 18 ...

- Downtown coverage, railway stations, tourist areas, shopping malls, and Changchun Longjia International Airport *

- Downtown coverage, railway stations, tourist areas, shopping malls, and Qingdao Liuting International Airport *

- Downtown coverage, railway stations, tourist areas, shopping malls, and

Yantai Penglai International Airport Yantai Penglai International Airport is an international airport serving the city of Yantai in East China’s Shandong province. It is located from the city center, near the Chaoshui town in Penglai District, a district in Yantai city. Con ...

- Downtown coverage, railway stations, tourist areas, shopping malls, and plazas, including shops, and communities. *

- Downtown Coverage, including transportation centers, tourist areas, shopping malls, and

Macau International Airport Macau International Airport is an international airport in the special administrative region of Macau, situated at the eastern end of Taipa island and neighbouring waters. It opened for commercial operations on 9 November 1995, during Portu ...

- Downtown Coverage, including transportation centers, tourist areas, shopping malls, and

Huangshan Tunxi International Airport Huangshan Tunxi International Airport is an airport in Tunxi District, Huangshan City in East China’s Anhui province. It mainly serves tourists to Mount Huangshan, one of China's top tourist destinations. The airport was first built in 1 ...

- Downtown Coverage, including transportation centers, tourist areas, shopping malls, and Hefei Xinqiao International Airport *

- Downtown Coverage, including transportation centers, tourist areas, shopping malls, and Guiyang Longdongbao International Airport *

- Downtown Coverage, tourist areas, transportation centers, shopping malls, and

Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport is an international airport serving Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. The airport codes were inherited from the Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (former), former Baiyun Airport, and the IATA code is de ...

Wuhan Wuhan; is the capital of Hubei, China. With a population of over eleven million, it is the most populous city in Hubei and the List of cities in China by population, eighth-most-populous city in China. It is also one of the nine National cent ...

- Downtown Coverage, tourist areas, transportation centers, shopping malls, and

Wuhan Tianhe International Airport Wuhan Tianhe International Airport is an international airport serving Wuhan, the capital of South Central China’s Hubei province. It was opened on 15 April 1995, replacing the old Wuhan Wangjiadun Airport and Nanhu Airport as the major ...

Jinan Jinan is the capital of the province of Shandong in East China. With a population of 9.2 million, it is one of the largest cities in Shandong in terms of population. The area of present-day Jinan has played an important role in the history of ...

- Downtown Coverage, tourist areas, transportation centers, shopping malls, and

Jinan Yaoqiang International Airport Jinan Yaoqiang International Airport is an airport serving Jinan, the capital of East China’s Shandong province. It is located approximately northeast of the city center and immediately to the north of the Yaoqiang Subdistrict ( zh, s=� ...

* Ordos - Downtown Coverage, tourist areas, transportation centers, shopping malls, and

Ordos Ejin Horo Airport Ordos Ejin Horo International Airport is an airport serving Ordos City in China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. It is located in Ejin Horo Banner. First built in 1959 and called Dongsheng Airport, the airport ceased operation in 1983. I ...

Xiamen Xiamen,), also known as Amoy ( ; from the Zhangzhou Hokkien pronunciation, zh, c=, s=, t=, p=, poj=Ē͘-mûi, historically romanized as Amoy, is a sub-provincial city in southeastern Fujian, People's Republic of China, beside the Taiwan Stra ...

- Downtown Coverage, tourist areas, transportation centers, shopping malls, and Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport *

Zhengzhou Zhengzhou is the capital of Henan, China. Located in northern Henan, it is one of the nine National central city, national central cities in China, and serves as the political, economic, technological, and educational center of the province. Th ...

- Downtown Coverage, tourist areas, transportation centers, shopping malls, and

Zhengzhou Xinzheng International Airport Zhengzhou Xinzheng International Airport is an international airport serving Zhengzhou, the capital of South Central China’s Henan province. The airport is located in Xinzheng, southeast of downtown Zhengzhou. It was opened on 28 August ...

Changsha Changsha is the capital of Hunan, China. It is the 15th most populous city in China with a population of 10,513,100, the Central China#Cities with urban area over one million in population, third-most populous city in Central China, and the ...

- Downtown Coverage, tourist areas, transportation centers, shopping malls, and Changsha Huanghua International Airport *

Shijiazhuang Shijiazhuang; Mandarin: ; formerly known as Shimen and romanized as Shihkiachwang is the capital and most populous city of China's Hebei Province. A prefecture-level city southwest of Beijing, it administers eight districts, three county-le ...

- Downtown Coverage, tourist areas, transportation centers, shopping malls, and Shijiazhuang Zhengding International Airport *

Nanning Nanning; is the capital of the Guangxi, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in South China, southern China. It is known as the "Green City (绿城) " because of its abundance of lush subtropical foliage. Located in the South of Guangxi, Nanning ...

- Downtown Coverage, tourist areas, transportation centers, shopping malls, and Nanning Wuxu International Airport *

Luoyang Luoyang ( zh, s=洛阳, t=洛陽, p=Luòyáng) is a city located in the confluence area of the Luo River and the Yellow River in the west of Henan province, China. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zheng ...

- Downtown Coverage, tourist areas, transportation centers, shopping malls, and Luoyang Beijiao Airport *

Haikou Haikou; Chinese postal romanization, formerly romanized as Hoihow is the capital city, capital and most populous city of the Chinese province of Hainan. Haikou city is situated on the northern coast of Hainan, by the mouth of the Nandu River. ...

- Downtown Coverage, tourist areas, transportation centers, shopping malls, and

Haikou Meilan International Airport Haikou Meilan International Airport is an international airport serving Haikou, the capital of South Central China's Hainan province. It is located southeast of the city center and was opened in 1999, replacing the old Dayingshan Airport loca ...

Xuzhou Xuzhou ( zh, s=徐州), also known as Pengcheng () in ancient times, is a major city in northwestern Jiangsu province, China. The city, with a recorded population of 9,083,790 at the 2020 Chinese census, 2020 census (3,135,660 of which lived in ...

- Downtown Coverage, tourist areas, transportation centers, shopping malls, and Xuzhou Guanyin Airport *

Nanchang Nanchang is the capital of Jiangxi, China. Located in the north-central part of the province and in the hinterland of Poyang Lake Plain, it is bounded on the west by the Jiuling Mountains, and on the east by Poyang Lake. Because of its strate ...

- Downtown Coverage, tourist areas, transportation centers, shopping malls, and Nanchang Changbei International Airport *

Changzhou Changzhou is a prefecture-level city in southern Jiangsu, China. It was previously known as Yanling, Lanling, and Jinling. Located on the southern bank of the Yangtze River, Changzhou borders the provincial capital of Nanjing to the west, Zhen ...

- Downtown Coverage, tourist areas, transportation centers, shopping malls, and Changzhou Benniu Airport *

Guilin Guilin (Standard Zhuang: ''Gveilinz''), postal map romanization, formerly romanization of Chinese, romanized as Kweilin, is a prefecture-level city in the northeast of China's Guangxi, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. It is situated on the we ...

- Downtown Coverage, tourist areas, transportation centers, shopping malls, and

Guilin Liangjiang International Airport Guilin Liangjiang International Airport is an international airport serving the city of Guilin in South Central China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. It is located in Liangjiang Town, about southwest of the city center. In 2014, Guil ...

Zhuhai Zhuhai; Yale romanization of Cantonese, Yale: ''Jyūhói''; Chinese postal romanization, also known as Chuhai is a prefecture-level city located on the west bank of the Pearl River (China), Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern ...

- Downtown Coverage, tourist areas, transportation centers, shopping malls, and

Zhuhai Jinwan Airport Zhuhai Jinwan Airport , (Named Zhuhai Sanzao Airport ( zh, s=珠海三灶机场) prior to 10 January 2013), is the primary airport serving the city of Zhuhai in China’s Guangdong province. It is located some southwest of the Zhuhai city cent ...

Wenzhou Wenzhou; Chinese postal romanization, historically known as Wenchow is a prefecture-level city in China's Zhejiang province. Wenzhou is located at the extreme southeast of Zhejiang, bordering Lishui, Zhejiang, Lishui to the west, Taizhou, Zheji ...

- Downtown Coverage, tourist areas, transportation centers, shopping malls, and Wenzhou Longwan International Airport *

Tangshan Tangshan ( zh, c=唐山 , p=Tángshān) is a coastal, industrial prefecture-level city in the northeast of Hebei province. It is located in the eastern part of Hebei Province and the northeastern part of the North China Plain. It is located in t ...

- Downtown Coverage, tourist areas, transportation centers, shopping malls, and

Tangshan Sannühe Airport Tangshan Sannvhe Airport or Tangshan Sannühe Airport , or Tangshan Air Base, is a dual-use military and civil airport serving the city of Tangshan in Hebei province, north China. It is located near the village of Sannühe, 20 kilometers from t ...

Lanzhou Lanzhou is the capital and largest city of Gansu province in northwestern China. Located on the banks of the Yellow River, it is a key regional transportation hub, connecting areas further west by rail to the eastern half of the country. His ...

- Downtown Coverage, tourist areas, transportation centers, shopping malls, and Lanzhou Zhongchuan International Airport *

- Downtown Coverage, tourist areas, transportation centers, shopping malls, and Xuzhou Guanyin Airport *

- Downtown Coverage, tourist areas, transportation centers, shopping malls, and Changsha Huanghua International Airport *

- Downtown Coverage, tourist areas, transportation centers, shopping malls, and

Nantong Nantong is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Jiangsu province, China. Located on the northern bank of the Yangtze River, near the river mouth. Nantong is a vital river port bordering Yancheng to the north; Taizhou to the west; Suzhou, Wux ...

- Downtown Coverage, tourist areas, transportation centers, shopping malls, and Nantong Xingdong Airport *

Taiyuan Taiyuan; Mandarin pronunciation: (Jin Chinese, Taiyuan Jin: /tʰai˦˥ ye˩˩/) is the capital of Shanxi, China. Taiyuan is the political, economic, cultural and international exchange center of Shanxi Province. It is an industrial base foc ...

- Downtown Coverage, tourist areas, transportation centers, shopping malls, and Taiyuan Wusu International Airport *

Shantou Shantou, Chinese postal romanization, alternately romanization of Chinese, romanized as Swatow and sometimes known as Santow, is a prefecture-level city on the eastern coast of Guangdong, China, with a total population of 5,502,031 as of the 20 ...

- Downtown Coverage, tourist areas, transportation centers, shopping malls, and Jieyang Chaoshan International Airport *

Yangzhou Yangzhou is a prefecture-level city in central Jiangsu Province, East China. Sitting on the north bank of the Yangtze, it borders the provincial capital Nanjing to the southwest, Huai'an to the north, Yancheng to the northeast, Taizhou, Jiangsu, ...

- Downtown Coverage, tourist areas, transportation centers, shopping malls, and Yangzhou Taizhou Airport *

Quanzhou Quanzhou is a prefecture-level city, prefecture-level port city on the north bank of the Jin River, beside the Taiwan Strait in southern Fujian, China, People's Republic of China. It is Fujian's largest most populous metropolitan region, wi ...

- Downtown Coverage, tourist areas, transportation centers, shopping malls, and

Quanzhou Jinjiang International Airport Quanzhou Jinjiang International Airport is a dual-use military and commercial airport serving the city of Quanzhou in East China’s Fujian province. It is located south of the city center (aka Licheng, Quanzhou, Licheng and Fengze, Quanzhou, ...

Kaifeng Kaifeng ( zh, s=开封, p=Kāifēng) is a prefecture-level city in east-Zhongyuan, central Henan province, China. It is one of the Historical capitals of China, Eight Ancient Capitals of China, having been the capital eight times in history, and ...

- Downtown Coverage *

Yichang Yichang ( zh, s= ), Postal Map Romanization, alternatively romanized as Ichang, is a prefecture-level city located in western Hubei province, China. Yichang had a population of 3.92 million people at the 2022 census, making it the third most pop ...

- Downtown Coverage, tourist areas, transportation centers, shopping malls, and Yichang Sanxia Airport Nearly all cities have free WiFi coverage, hosted either by their local service carrier, or city government, all railway stations in China have free WiFi, along with all Airports.

Taiwan

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

- iTaiwan, Free wifi covering government office, tourism attractions, transportation service area, constructed by the National Development Council. *

Taipei , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...

- Taipei Free Public Wi-Fi and paid service Wifly by Q-Ware Communications, Inc. *

New Taipei New Taipei City is a Special municipality (Taiwan), special municipality located in regions of Taiwan, northern Taiwan. The city is home to an estimated population of 4,004,367 as of January 2023, making it the most populous city in Taiwan, a ...

- free service in specific public areas in the city

South Asia

India

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ), also spelled Amdavad (), is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 ...

Reliance Jio Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (d/b/a Jio) is an Indian telecommunications company and a subsidiary of Jio Platforms, headquartered in Navi Mumbai. It operates a national LTE (telecommunication), LTE network with coverage across all 22 telecom ...

started free 4G services in select areas *

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

- free coverage of M.G. Road and Brigade Road. *

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

- free Wi-Fi service in Delhi's Khan Market (August 2014), free WiFi service in Delhi's Connaught Place (November 2014), free Wi-Fi service at

New Delhi Railway Station New Delhi railway station (station code: NDLS) is the primary railway hub for the Indian capital, New Delhi, and an integral part of Indian Railways. Situated in Central Delhi, approximately 2 kilometers north of Connaught Place, the station ...

(December 2014) *

Greater Noida Greater Noida is a planned city located in the Gautam Buddha Nagar district of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The city was created as an extension of the area under the ''UP Industrial Area Development Act, of 1976''. Situated southeast ...

— paid, operated by Maksat Technologies (P) Ltd. *

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

- free 4G service by Reliance Jio *

Faridabad Faridabad () is the most populous List of cities in Haryana by population, city near NCT of Delhi in the Indian state of Haryana and a part of National Capital Region (India), Delhi National Capital Region. It is one of the major satellite citie ...

- paid Wi-Fi Internet services being deployed by CSC E-governance Services in all Village Gram Panchayats * Puducherry,

- paid Wi-Fi Internet services being deployed by CSC E-governance Services in all Village Gram Panchayats *

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in East India, eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north ...

- paid Wi-Fi Internet services being deployed by CSC E-governance Services in all Village Gram Panchayats

Nepal

Kathmandu Kathmandu () is the capital and largest city of Nepal, situated in the central part of the country within the Kathmandu Valley. As per the 2021 Nepal census, it has a population of 845,767 residing in 105,649 households, with approximately 4 mi ...

- Paid services through multiple providers such as wlink, NTC

Pakistan

Islamabad Islamabad (; , ; ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's tenth-most populous city with a population of over 1.1 million and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital Territory. Bu ...

- Free

PTCL Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd., commonly known as PTCL, is the national telecommunication company in Pakistan.Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

- Free

Wifi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for Wireless LAN, local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by ...

service in all city. *

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, third-largest city in the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is a commercial and industrial hub, being the list of cities in P ...

- Free WiFi Service. *

Multan Multan is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, fifth-most populous city in the Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab province of Pakistan. Located along the eastern bank of the Chenab River, it is the List of cities in Pakistan by populatio ...

- Free WiFi Service. *

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

- Free Telenor WiFi https://propakistani.pk/2014/09/22/telenor-launches-wifi-hotspots-in-karachi/ https://wifispc.com/pakistan

Southeast Asia

Cambodia

Phnom Penh Phnom Penh is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Cambodia, most populous city of Cambodia. It has been the national capital since 1865 and has grown to become the nation's primate city and its political, economic, industr ...

- WiCam, Ltd.

Indonesia

Malang Malang (; , ), historically known as Tumapel, is an inland List of regencies and cities of Indonesia, city in the Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province of East Java. It has a history dating back to the age of the Singhasari, Singhasari K ...

- Indoken Wireless offers roaming connectivity, T-Fi Beta offers connectivity on public transportation, free access at resource centers.

Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...

- free, Wireless@KL covering major commercial areas. *

Penang Penang is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia along the Strait of Malacca. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay Peninsula. Th ...

, - Penang Free Wi-Fi started in 2009, covers some commercial spots in the state, mostly on

Penang Island Penang Island is the main constituent island of the Malaysian state of Penang. It is located off the western coast of Peninsular Malaysia by the Malacca Strait, with the Penang Strait separating the island from Seberang Perai on the mainla ...

. * Port Dickson *

Sarawak Sarawak ( , ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. It is the largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia. Sarawak is located in East Malaysia in northwest Borneo, and is ...

- paid deConnexion available in most business districts in major towns in the state of Sarawak. *

Kota Kinabalu Kota Kinabalu (; formerly known as Jesselton), colloquially referred to as KK, is the state capital of Sabah, Malaysia. It is also the capital of the Kota Kinabalu District as well as the West Coast Division of Sabah. The city is located on the ...

- free through KK City WiFi starting from 2017 for local residents and tourists. Each user is entitled to 10 GB of quota with no time limit every day.

Philippines

* Balanga,

Bataan Bataan (, , , ; ) , officially the Province of Bataan, is a province in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines. Its capital is the city of Balanga while Mariveles is the largest town in the province. Occupying the entire Bataan Peninsula ...

- free in downtown and several tourist attractions * Bogo,

Cebu Cebu ( ; ), officially the Province of Cebu (; ), is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, and consists of a main island and 167 surrounding islands and islets. The coastal zone of Cebu is identified as a ...

- free WiFi service in most government facilities provided by the city government and ICT Office. * Calbayog,

Samar Samar ( ) is the third-largest and seventh-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 1,909,537 as of the 2020 census. It is located in the eastern Visayas, which are in the central Philippines. The island is divided in ...

- downtown area

Singapore

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

- free, Wireless@SG with more than 5,000 hotspots

Thailand

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

- free service for Bangkok citizens provided by True Corporation.

Vietnam

Hạ Long Hạ Long ( , ) is a first-class provincial city and the capital city of Quảng Ninh province, Vietnam. It was found in 1993, when the old capital, Hòn Gai, was merged with Bãi Cháy, the main tourist area. The city mainly lies on Hạ L ...

Hội An Hội An () is a city of approximately 120,000 people in Vietnam's Quảng Nam Province, registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1999. Along with the Cù Lao Chàm archipelago, it is part of the Cù Lao Chàm-Hội An Biosphere Reserve ...

Da Nang Da Nang or DanangSee also Danang Dragons (, ) is the fifth-largest city in Vietnam by municipal population. It lies on the coast of the Western Pacific Ocean of Vietnam at the mouth of the Hàn River, and is one of Vietnam's most important p ...

Huế Huế (formerly Thừa Thiên Huế province) is the southernmost coastal Municipalities of Vietnam, city in the North Central Coast region, the Central Vietnam, Central of Vietnam, approximately in the center of the country. It borders Quảng ...

Europe

Austria

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

- free service around the city through the city lights, at major train stations, and in the

Vienna International Airport Vienna Airport is an international airport serving Vienna, the capital of Austria. It is located in Schwechat, southeast of central Vienna and west of Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. Its official name according to the Austrian Aeronaut ...

Belgium

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

- UrbiZone covers some institutions for higher education, administration buildings, and public hospitals.

Bulgaria

Plovdiv Plovdiv (, ) is the List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, second-largest city in Bulgaria, 144 km (93 miles) southeast of the capital Sofia. It had a population of 490,983 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is a cultural hub ...

- free throughout the city center and some of the city's outskirts.

Croatia

Samobor Samobor () is a town in Zagreb County, Croatia. It is part of the Zagreb metropolitan area. Administratively it is a part of Zagreb County. Geography Samobor is located west of Zagreb, between the eastern slopes of the Samobor hills (), the eas ...

- paid & free service by NGO SMBWireless. *

Velika Gorica Velika Gorica () is the largest and most populous city in Zagreb County, Croatia. According to the 2011 census, the city itself has a population of 31,341, and the municipality has a population of 63,517 inhabitants. Velika Gorica is the centre ...

- free in the city center and nearby villages as a part of e-Gorica.

Estonia

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

Tiigrihüpe Tiigrihüpe (Estonian language, Estonian for ''Tiger Leap'') was a project undertaken by the Republic of Estonia to heavily invest in development and expansion of computer and network infrastructure in Estonia, with a particular emphasis on edu ...

free WiFi covers the capital city Tallinn and most of the country.

Finland

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

- free, city-operated network in the city center *

Oulu Oulu ( , ; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of North Ostrobothnia. It is located on the northwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Oulujoki, River Oulu. The population of Oulu is approximately , while the Oulu sub-regio ...

- free panOULU service.

France

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

- free in many parks and in municipal libraries, museums, and public places. Some suburbs do as well.

Germany

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

- several areas downtown *

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

- service along the main shopping street Königstraße and a few other locations. *

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( ; ; ; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, third-largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, after its capital Stuttgart a ...

- most of the city center and several areas in the outer skirts.

Greece

Heraklion Heraklion or Herakleion ( ; , , ), sometimes Iraklion, is the largest city and the administrative capital city, capital of the island of Crete and capital of Heraklion (regional unit), Heraklion regional unit. It is the fourth largest city in G ...

- free, city-operated network, covers major city squares and roads. * Lagkadas - free, city-operated, covers most of the city and is expanding to cover towns in Lagkadas municipality.

Ireland

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

- free WiFi in areas of the city centre.

Italy

* Bologna - free service in and around the historical city center. * Comiso - free service in and around the historical city center. * Milan - free service in and around the historical city center and the Milano Malpensa airport. * Ravenna - throughout the historic center of Ravenna there is a free wi-fi service called "Ravenna WiFi." * Rome - The WiFimetropolitano project consists in the installation in squares, libraries and meeting places in the metropolitan area, of WiFi devices for free Internet access. * Venice, free to residents and city users. *Trento, free service in and around the historical city centre.

Lithuania

* Kaunas - free, in some streets of the city.

Luxembourg

* Luxembourg (city), Luxembourg — paid & free service in downtown, Central Station Hotcity and European district.

Moldova

* Chişinău - two metropolitan Wi-Fi networks exist: StarNet and Orange. StarNet's paid and free coverage area includes the city's central streets and residential districts as well as parks. Orange paid coverage area includes the city's mass transit areas and bus stops.

Netherlands

* Almere - free municipal Wi-Fi covering Downtown Almere * Hilversum - free municipal Wi-Fi covering Downtown Hilversum and the shopping area around de Gijsbrecht van Amstelstraat in the southern part of town * Leiden - free, community project covering city and region by Wireless Leiden

Norway

* Trondheim - paid and free service in city centre.

Poland

* Rzeszów - free, city-operated in participating public schools. * Wrocław - free service by Miejski Internet, in few places.

Romania

* Brașov, Romania - free WiFi over the entire city deployed into existing 5G network by worldwifizone.com of Ireland, over 40,000 daily users at peak. * Roman, Romania - free, deployed by Minisoft Romania as part of MetroWireless free internet access project, paid by advertisements, covers much of the city, expanding to nearby villages * Vatra Dornei, Romania, 85% of city covered with free WiFi deployed by worldwifizone.com using free guest user and Facebook connect.

Russia

* Moscow, Russia - MaximaTelecom, award-winning Moscow Metro and public transport public network * Moscow, Russia - paid service, Golden Telecom

Serbia

* Zrenjanin, Serbia - free, city center only * Pančevo, Serbia - free, city center only, with time limit session.

Slovenia

* Ljubljana, Slovenia - free for 1 hour, city center only

Spain

* Moralzarzal, Spain - free for inscribed citizens, limited time for visitors. * Madrid, Spain - free and open Wi-Fi on the municipal bus system, EMT.

Sweden

* Helsingborg, Sweden - unrestricted, free and city-operated in 220 locations around the town. SSID: Helsingborg Helpdesk: #freewifihbg on most social platforms. * Lidköping, Sweden - unrestricted, free and commercially operated. Available in town square. SSID: Lidkoping * Örebro, Sweden - free, around Järntorget. * Malmö, Sweden - free, operated by Pjodd.se, sharing around 65 access points around central town.

Switzerland

* Geneva, Switzerland - free, city-operated

Ukraine

* Kyiv, Ukraine - free WiFi in certain areas of city centre and Kyiv Passenger Railway Station, Passenger Railway Station.

United Kingdom

* Aberdeen - free access across city centre introduced in April 2017. * Blackpool - free, 1.6 km area around city centr
Wireless Blackpool

Wireless Blackpool Leaflet
* Bristol - free, 3 km area around city centre * Dundee - free access, limited to the redeveloped waterfront area from July 2018, with plans for wider coverage. * Edinburgh - free coverage across the city centre was introduced in summer 2016. * Fort William, Highland, Fort William - free, town centre. * Glasgow - free citywide access introduced in Scotland's largest city as part of an initiative called "Urban Wireless" by British Telecom in July 2014. * Inverness - free, city centre. * Liverpool - paid service, covering central areas. * Newcastle, County Down, Newcastle, Northern Ireland * Norwich - free, city center and university, 18-month pilot Openlink (Norwich, UK) * Sheffield - free, covering the entire city centre; currently under development since December 2017. * York - free, entire city centre, museums, libraries and universities

North America

Canada

* Calgary, Alberta - paid service operated by WestNet Wireless, first City Wi-Fi in Canada * Fredericton, New Brunswick - free, Fred-e Zone * Iqaluit, Nunavut - Community Free Access and Paid Service provided by Meshnet, and service of mnemonics.ca * London, Ontario - free (pilot project) on Dundas Street, provided by London Downtown Business Association * Mississauga, Ontario - free, Wireless access at Mississauga Libraries, Community Centres, Arenas and select transit stops * Moncton, New Brunswick - free, Service provided by Red Ball Internet of Moncton. Wireless access available at Arenas and Moncton's Public Library. It was also the first city in Canada to provide wireless internet on its public transportation fleet. * Montreal, Quebec - free, community supported Ilesansfil * Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan - free, city center and campus
* Prince Albert, Saskatchewan - free, city center and campus * Quebec City, Quebec - free, community supported ZAP Quebec * Regina, Saskatchewan - free, city center and campus * Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec - free service in selected parks, municipal buildings and commercial center, provided by ZAP Monteregie * Saskatoon, Saskatchewan - free, city center and campus * Sherbrooke, Québec - free, limited to downtown, provided by ZAP Sherbrooke * Shawinigan, Quebec - free service, limited to downtown. City-operated. * Stratford, Ontario - paid service, covers entire city. * Toronto, Ontario - free service provided by Wireless Toronto and the Toronto Public Library system for locations throughout the Greater Toronto Area * Windsor, Ontario- free service for the downtown core provided by the Downtown Windsor Business Improvement Association.

United States

* Akron, Ohio: ConnectAkron * Albany, New York Albanyfreenet *Albuquerque, New Mexico * Amherst, Massachusetts - free service in downtown area * Anderson, Indiana free WiFi * Arcata, California * Baldwin, Georgia - free Public WiFi available in select locations. * Baltimore, Maryland free WiFi * Bethany Beach, Delaware Beach and Boardwalk free WiFi * Binghamton, New York - free service, * Boston, Boston, Massachusetts
Wicked Free WiFi
available throughout the City of Boston for the public to use * Brevard County, Florida - free at all County Library Building

* Bristol, Virginia * Burlington, North Carolina - Free public WiFi i
select downtown areas.
* Burlington, Vermont - Citywide WiFi hotspots throug
Burlington Telecom
* Cambridge, Massachusetts - free (pilot), through th
Cambridge Public Internet (CPI) Initiative
* Cedar Rapids, Iowa - has Free WiFi Downtown & around the city * Charleston, South Carolina - free public wi-fi in Marion Square * Chattanooga, Tennessee - free public WiFi citywide; operated by Electric Power Board of Chattanooga, EPB * Chicago - free public WiFi in many public places; municipally operated; no technical support * Clearwater Beach, Florida - free service, * Cleveland, Cleveland, Ohio—free service in the Old Brooklyn neighborhood * Corpus Christi, Texas - paid service, Earthlink * Decatur, Georgia - Free WiFi in Downtown Decatur * Dubuque, Iowa - free, city-operated, provided Mediacom covers downtown area since 2006. * El Paso, Texas - Free WiFi in Downtown El Paso. * Englewood, New Jersey - Free ultra fast WiFi throughout almost two miles of downtown Englewood 2014. * Escondido, California - free service in downtown area and Public Library. * Fenton, Michigan - free or paid service in downtown area and public parks, through Tri-County Wireless, Inc. * Gerlach, Nevada - Gifted to the public by Black Rock City LLC. * Greensboro, North Carolina - Free WiFi in Downtown Greensboro, Greensboro Historical Museum, The Depot, and others. * Harrisburg, North Carolina - free, Time Warner Cable * Hattiesburg, Mississippi Free WiFi in the downtown area of Front, Main and Pine Streets and the Oaks Cultural District. * Hollywood, Florida
Johnson Controls
deploy municipal Wi-Fi network for wireless automated meter reading (AMR), public safety and free Wi-Fi service for residents. * Houston, Houston, Texas - free service in downtown area and selected neighborhoods around the city; free service also available in all Houston Public Library and Harris County Public Library branches * Honolulu, Honolulu, Hawaii - free, Tri-Net Solutions LLC * Hiawatha, Iowa, Hiawatha Iowa - Has Free WiFi at Public parks & Public Library * Indianapolis, Indianapolis, Indiana -free AT&T WiFi downtown * Kansas City, Missouri - free WiFi downtown through Sprint/AT&T * Kennesaw, Georgia - free, City of Kennesaw WiFi - available in city parks and other area

* Kenosha, Wisconsin - Low Cost Paid WiFi located in Downtown Kenosha, service provided by Infinite Technologies LL

* Kenosha, Wisconsin - Expensive Lake coverage pre-approved by Kenosha County Board without pre-approval by the City of Kenosha was declined by the City 2/13/2014. The ISP service the County was attempting would undermine the existing small business owner, who has found it a challenge for the city to accept any attempts to grow the WiFi. * Kissimmee, Florida - free, Bright House Networks * Lafayette, Louisiana * Lawrence, Kansas - free, Lawrence Freenet, not-for-profit company that works in conjunction with the City of Lawrence and local internet provider

* Leverett, Massachusetts * Lexington, Kentucky - SSID: "LexingtonPublic" free, originally only for police, firefighters and civil service employees, available along major streets miles outside downtown, available in downtown, East End and Cardinal Hill neighborhoods * Linden, Michigan - free or paid service in downtown area and public parks, through Tri-County Wireless, Inc. * Los Lunas, New Mexico - http://www.loslunasnm.gov/196/Wi-Fi-Service * Longmont, Colorado - Municipal gigabit fiber citywide. * Madison, Wisconsin - paid, only covers central part of city. * Marion, Illinois - Free. Initially just the downtown square but plans to expand to Public Safety. * Maywood, California - Free. Initially just the business corridors, now citywide. * Minneapolis, Minneapolis, Minnesota - paid, Minneapolis wireless internet network, USI Wireless * Mountain View, California - free (no longer operating) - Google WiFi * Naperville, Illinois - free, downtown area only, known as "napernet" * New York City - LinkNYC began service in 2016; intended to have thousands of stations * Newton, North Carolina - free, downtown are

* Ocala, Florida - Free, Downtown Square * Pacifica, California - paid service, PacificaNet * Palm Bay, Florida - free at City Hall and six parks, Ma

* Peachtree City, Georgia - free at two parks and the public library/City Hall plaza - * Philomath, Oregon - free 300 kbit/s access, paid tiers. Serves city limits: also has APs in downtown Corvallis. * Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - free downtown 2 hours per day * Plattsmouth, Nebraska - free in all public buildings (Court House, Public Library, City Hall, Community Center) and Main Street * Ponca City, Oklahoma - covers the whole city * Powell, Ohio - Free, covers downtown * Rochester, Minnesota - Downtown in Peace Plaza, near the Mayo Clinic and University of Minnesota Rochester * Rockport, Maine * San Jose, California - Free in downtown area, and in key low resource neighborhoods through the East Side Access partnership with East Side Union High School District * Santa Clara, California - Free, outdoors in most areas of the city * Santa Monica, California - Free, outdoors in most areas of the city * Skokie, Illinois, - Downtown and park areas * Southaven, Mississippi - paid service, city-operated, branded a
Magnoliawave
* South Bend, Indiana - Free service intended to establish downtown as a meeting place and bridge the Digital divide in the United States, digital divide * Spokane, Washington - two free hours/day, paid after. * Statesville, North Carolina- free access * Storrs, Connecticut - used for students of The University of Connecticut * Springfield, Ohio - free, downtown and Clark State Community College campus * The Dalles, Oregon - free, via Google grant to downtown and key event areas. City-operated. * Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania - Day pass, monthly service, or even pre-paid wireless data cards are available * Williamsburg, Virginia - free, limited to Merchants Square * Winston-Salem, North Carolina - free, limited to downtown. City-operated: no technical support. * Warwick, Massachusetts - paid service, municipally-operated * Yazoo City, Mississippi - Paid network. Branded as Yazoo Wireless, Provided b
CYTEC
* Yorktown, Indiana - Free, limited to downtown In addition, a few U.S. states, such as Illinois, Iowa, and Massachusetts, offer free Wi-Fi service at Rest area, welcome centers and roadside rest areas located along major Interstate highways.

Mexico

* Guadalajara, Guadalajara, Jalisco - Free, 150 parks and municipal areas. 1 hour continuous connect and 2 hour connection time allowed per day. In operation since 2011. Installation and operation is municipal government funded. A few of the areas are provided with free electrical outlets to charge / use your device. * Mérida, Yucatán - Free. Most major city parks and other areas. Provided by Axtel and Telmex. Usually also provide standing tables with power outlets. The parks are identified by "parque en linea" (online park) signs and branding of the utility providing the connectivity. The SSID is usually "park en linea".

Oceania

* Margaret River, Western Australia, This free public WIFI is provided by Margaret River Rotary Club and covers the main street all the way up to Reuther Park at the corner of Bussell Hwy & Wallcliffe Rd, Margaret River WA 6285. * Melbourne, Australia - VICFREE WiFi is available outdoors in the Melbourne CBD it includes: Bourke St Mall Queen Victoria Market Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre Melbourne Museum on platforms at CBD train stations It's also available in central Ballarat and central Bendigo. * NOTE Telstra also have Telstra air fon hotspots available to Telstra and fon customers Australia wide *Adelaide, Australia - AdelaideFree WiFi is a contiguous network available throughout the CBD, provided by Internode (ISP), Internode * Auckland, New Zealand - Citywide network based in all popular areas across Auckland including CBD and Waterfron

from Tomizone. * Perth, Australia - paid, RoamAD-based metro wide coverage in the CBD b
metromesh
* Hawke's Bay, New Zealand, prepaid access and free 1 hr daily, available at many locations region wide b
NOW
* Wellington, New Zealand - Free Wifi at the Waterfront, CBD & Airport *Brisbane, Australia - in public areas and the CBD * Nelson, New Zealand, Nelson, New Zealand - Public areas within CBD

South America

* Aparecida, Brazil Free service * Belo Horizonte, Brazil * La Plata, Argentina - free, city center only * Buenos Aires, Argentina - free, without registration, 120 spots for all over the city * General Lavalle, General Lavalle, Argentina - Free service * Resistencia, Chaco, Argentina - free, without registration, 12 spots for all over the city. * Sud Mennucci, São Paulo, Sud Mennucci, Brazil—free, limited to downtown. City-operated. * Medellin, Colombia City-operated free wifi in over 180 locations. * Miraflores District, Lima, Miraflores, Lima Peru Free service, various spots over the district. City-operated.

Planned

Africa

* Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch, South Africa Free service. Town centre online since February 25, 2012. Coverage to be increased to whole town. * Northpine, South Africa Paid. WISP and media delivery services as well as video surveillance focused on the suburb. Community social portal for information sharing, collaboration and local business partnerships. Proof of concept to be expanded to neighbouring areas. * Harare, Zimbabwe Available around the city on various hotspots. Provided by ZOL. 1 hour time limit, paid after.

South Asia

- Delhi Government constituted a Task Force (March 2015) to provide Free Wi-Fi connectivity in Delhi. The new Task Force is a part of Delhi Dialogue Commission (DDC), an advisory body of the Aam Aadmi Party government, Aam Aadmi Party government decide to consult with various stakeholders to implement its pre-poll promise of providing Free Wi-Fi connectivity across the city, Delhi Dialogue Commission (DDC) chaired by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal asks people for suggestions for Free WiFi plan (March 2015) * Dhaka, Bangladesh Free WiFi is now available in Dhaka Airport Road, Dhanmondi Lake Park, Selected BRTC Buses, Kamlapur Railway Station, Airport Railstation and Dhanmondi Residential Area. The Free WiFi Networks are provided by telecom operators, notably Robi (company), Robi and Aamra. The service is to be rolled out in full Northern Dhaka within December 2018 * Mumbai,

* NOIDA,

, Pakistan

Southeast Asia

* Makati, Philippines

West Asia

* Tel Aviv Downtown and later north part as well.

Europe

* Swindon, Swindon, Wiltshire, UK * Leicester, Leicester, UK * London, London, UK (London Underground)

North America

* Mexico City, Mexico free, coupled with new surveillance system (planned 2008) * Republic of Panamá, Panama * Tecumseh, Ontario

=United States

= * Oakland County, Michigan - free 128 kbit/s, paid for high speed, Wireless Oakland * Sacramento, California * Silicon Valley, Silicon Valley, California Joint Venture Wireless Project - free, prototyped for Palo Alto and San Carlos by 2008, Silicon Valley Metro Connect. * St. Louis Park, Minnesota - Set up, but not yet deployed due to contracting disputes. * Tampa, Florida - Tampabayconnect.net * Waukesha, Wisconsin

Oceania

* Brisbane, Australia * Canberra, Australia * Melbourne, Australia * Ballarat, Australia * Bendigo, Australia

South America

* Jacareí, Brazil * São José dos Campos, Brazil * São Paulo, Brazil

Canceled or closed

, United States * Charleston, South Carolina, United States (on hold) * Dublin, Ireland * Groningen, Netherlands - Municipal Wireless network with open service model, covering entire city, first parts operational, 2010–2012 expanding to 54sq km * MetroFi - free with advertisements, deployed to 10 cities in the western United States, closed in 2008 * Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States - paid service, Midwest Fiber Networks, target date: March 2008 * New Orleans, Louisiana, United States * Parramatta, Australia * Portland, Oregon, United States * Puerto Montt, Chile * Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Canada - plans to create paid service to cover the entire Waterloo Region, specifically Kitchener, Ontario, Waterloo, Ontario, Cambridge, Ontario (The "Tri-City Area"), to be provided by Atria Networks, was scrapped in 2011 as Atria has been acquired by Rogers Communications, no explanation was given. * Riverside, California, United States * San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States * Sydney, Australia * Tempe, Arizona, United States - paid service, Kite Networks * Dubrovnik, Croatia - closed when the new mayor took over

References

External links

* {{Telecommunications Municipal wireless networks, Wireless Internet service providers Telecommunications lists Internet access Wi-Fi Public utilities, Wifi