Why can’t I connect to Wi-fi? Free public network across Hong Kong slow and underused, government auditor finds
Watchdog slams administration for falling short of ‘smart’ city ambitions and not doing enough to promote digital inclusion in community
Free public Wi-fi in Hong Kong – the most basic of technological amenities – is still slow, patchy and mostly underused, despite the push to become a “smart” city, according to the government auditor.
On Wednesday, the Audit Commission said more than a third of public Wi-fi hotspots across government venues in the city had bandwidths slower than 3 megabits per second (Mbps). At some locations, no internet connection could be established at all.
At 196 venues – 32 per cent of the total – the average number of users was less than 15 per day.
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The recommended speed for streaming a high-definition YouTube video on a computer or mobile device is about 5 to 7 Mbps. According to a 2017 report by Akamai, an American content delivery network services provider, Hong Kong ranked fourth fastest in the world with an average Wi-fi speed of 21.9 Mbps.
“[The office] needs to take measures to boost the usage of GovWiFi services including promoting their availability and improving such services,” the auditor said.
[The office] needs to take measures to boost the usage of GovWiFi services including promoting their availability and improving such services
There are currently 3,087 GovWiFi hotspots at government venues across the city, according to the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer, which is in charge of developing and maintaining the network.