Toronto WiFi Goes live

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Toronto Hydro Telecom announced today the launch of it's city-wide WiFi initiative, One Zone. The first phase of a plan to provide all of Toronto with affordable wireless internet is now active. Phase 1 covers an area from Front to Queen, and from Church to Spadina. By the end of this year that coverage will be significantly expanded, reaching all the way north to Bloor, and from Bathurst to Parliament south of Queen -- six square kilometers, the largest WiFi network in Canada.

Mayor David Miller attended the press conference saying, "this is a watershed moment that will put Toronto on the leading edge of the telecommunications industry nationally and globally". Since the City of Toronto is the sole share-holder of Toronto Hydro Telecom, the wireless service made "good business sense" and could support Libraries, The TTC, Toronto Police and even Toronto Community Housing.

The wireless service will be offered free of charge for a six month period ending March 6th, 2007. After that, there will be three options for users wanting to log on. There will be a $29 monthly subscription, a 24 hour subscription for $10, and an hourly subscription of $5.

Miller added that the service, "sends a strong signal to investors, researchers and other business partners that we see Toronto as a hub for innovation, investment and continued prosperity". Get it? "Strong signal".

Coverage Maps (click to enlarge):
One-Zone_Coverage_Map.gif
One-Zone_detail.gif

Photo by author, maps by Toronto Hydro Telecom

Reader Reviews and Comments

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YES YES YES!!!!

Posted by: Mike Caputo at September 6, 2006 1:34 PM

So very excellent!!!

Posted by: jerrold at September 6, 2006 1:45 PM

Excellent for now, but this is a huge business move for Toronto Hydro, because all the people using the service during the six free months will be "strongly encouraged," I'm sure, to switch to the pay plan.

Also, will this coverage interfere with Wireless Toronto's awesome free signal?

Posted by: Sameer Vasta [TypeKey Profile Page] at September 6, 2006 2:02 PM

Well, this solves how I'm going to do my podcast from the festival theatres. :)

Posted by: matt at September 6, 2006 2:17 PM

The pricing structure is rather good for monthly subscribers, but the daily and hourly rates are steep!!!

Posted by: jerrold at September 6, 2006 2:24 PM

Ha Matt! You're right, this will make things a little handy for the next two weeks.

Jerrold, you're right as well, the pricing structure is decent on the monthly end, I think cheaper than Starbucks. That being said, free is always better.

Posted by: Sameer Vasta [TypeKey Profile Page] at September 6, 2006 2:33 PM

29$ a month for a shared wifi connection? JIP!

Posted by: ryro at September 6, 2006 8:56 PM

It's a great idea. It's just too bad that the downtown-centric thinking is going to result in the people living Uptown not getting any free preview.

Posted by: St Dan at September 6, 2006 10:20 PM

Yes, cheaper than Starbucks for certain but more importantly better coverage, I hope. Free for 6 months is great. The picture above is too funny, are they sitting on the sidewalk?

Posted by: Bernie Jansen at September 7, 2006 2:35 AM

I think the daily and hourly rates are going to be best for travelling business users and rich tourists.

So far the network doesnt stretch above queen, so it may not help the festival reportage so much.

And for the sake of bringing in some traffic to blogTO, you can digg this story here.

Posted by: Zach at September 7, 2006 1:15 PM

Two good articles on the WiFi launch here and here

Posted by: Zach at September 7, 2006 1:58 PM

Oh, and here is another good one, from The Globe this time.

Posted by: Zach at September 7, 2006 2:24 PM

Won't help my festival reporting (seeing as all my screenings are at Varsity or Cumberland) but will definitely help people watching movies out at Paramount, NFB, and Roy Thomson Hall.

Posted by: Sameer Vasta [TypeKey Profile Page] at September 7, 2006 2:42 PM

Oh, and here is another good one, from The Globe this time.

Posted by: Zach at September 7, 2006 2:47 PM

$$$ TOO EXPENSIVE $$$ Typical 'rich get richer' price structure. Most Torontotonians who need this service cannot afford $360 a year. Prices should be half of what they are. Can't Whitey ever get it right? How cool would it be if all around the globe people were talking about how Toronto gives it's citizen internet access for $15/month? Man. Greed. Shame.

Posted by: Commish at September 27, 2006 2:46 PM

please wake up and make an educated choice. both bell and rogers have "internet anywhere" systems in place that don't put out the damaging wifi signals.

do your homework and you will find that the convenience cannot possibly justify the "signal fog" that will be blanketing the downtown core. thank god we live out of range !

Posted by: gary at October 3, 2006 12:30 PM

The wireless network is good, but they need to fix the certificate issue on the log in page..

See here for details
Toronto One Zone Wireless Network Review
http://jtsang.blogspot.com/2006/11/toronto-one-zone-wireless-network.html

Let's get the word out, so Toronto Hydro Telecom will fix it ASAP.

Posted by: Jason Tsang at November 15, 2006 11:06 PM

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