The United Arab Emirate's latest technological project is to implement more than 300 free WiFi access points across the emirates by the end of the year. Some 200 have already been launched in Dubai, with the next phase of expansion to take place in Abu Dhabi.
Du, the UAE telecom provider, is rolling out the WiFi UAE service throughout the country to boost the use of e-government services in collaboration with the government's Smart Dubai initiative.
“The WiFi UAE announcement is a step forward in Dubai’s transformation into the smartest city in the world,” Aisha bin Bishr, a member of the executive committee of the Smart Dubai Initiative, told The National .
Although WiFi will be available for free, but there are limitations to the service. Users will have fast and unlimited access to all UAE government websites. However, free access to non-government sites will be streamed at a lower bandwidth. For premium access, users will be required to pay fee.
For 20 dirhams ($5.44), users can access 6 hours of high speed access that is valid for three days. If users want 20 hours to be used over a week, the cost is 50 dirhams ($13.61).
Note that only UAE numbers will be able to access WiFi UAE. So, there is no break for tourists, which is somewhat counter-intuitive as tourists are the least likely to have data plans.
Although Dubai and the UAE may be one of the first to launch such an ambitious project in the Middle East, they are certainly not the first in the world to launch a large-scale free WiFi plan. Cities from Taipei to Paris have launched similar initiatives, to varying degrees of success.
Paris already boasts free two-hour access at more than 200 hotspots throughout the city. Macau has some 150 hotspots offering 45-minutes of free WiFi between 8 a.m. and 1 a.m. Helsinki has easy password-free access throughout the city, which is available as soon as one arrives at the airport.
Du plans to monetize the free access through the placement of advertisements. Accessing the free service will require users to watch a video ad in return for an hour of access.
Our friends and colleagues in the UAE might be pleased, but those of us without UAE numbers are scratching are heads. What about us when we visit?