Brisbane to have free wifi

A good initiative announced today by Brisbane Marketing. Although its not the entire CBD, having the Mall and South Bank with free wifi certainly helps bring the city up to speed with the rest of the world. Now ... if only all the Brisbane hotels followed the lead and offered free wifi!

Free wifi for Australia’s new world city

A new integrated wi-fi system will provide free internet in South Bank and the Queen Street Mall in time for the G20.  

From April, visitors to the Queen Street Mall, Victoria Bridge and South Bank will be able to jump online to check email or surf the web using Brisbane City Council’s wi-fi.

In 2013 nearly one million users took advantage of council’s free wi-fi hotspots to stay connected around the city. Connecting the Queen Street Mall and South Bank is the next step in creating a digital Brisbane.

About 17,000 people a day travel over Victoria Bridge to get between South Bank and the Queen Street Mall, and the free wi-fi will allow them to stay connected on the go.

Brisbane Marketing and the council are putting Brisbane on the “digital map” ahead of G20 in November to demonstrate to G20 visitors that we are indeed Australia’s new world city.
Any one of the 4000 officials and 3000 media representatives visiting Brisbane will be able to access our state-of-the-art public wi-fi.

Wi-fi access is already available in 22 outdoor locations across the city including Brisbane Botanic Gardens, King George Square and New Farm Park. Additionally, each of council’s 33 libraries and the entire CityCat fleet also offer free wi-fi.

Local cafes, restaurants and hotels are also encouraged to be part of a broader “Digital Brisbane” by providing free wi-fi to patrons.