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Toronto Hydro Launches Free Wi-Fi Network

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the everything's-bigger-in-canada dept.

k. writes to let us know about the launch Wednesday of Toronto Hydro's city-wide Wi-Fi network, at 6 square kilometers said to be the largest in North America by the time rollout is complete in December. The service will be free for 6 months and then will cost $29 (Canadian) per month, $10 for a day, or $5 for an hour. Toronto Hydro gets around fears of the Four Horsemen of the Infocalypse by requiring use of one's cell-phone number as the user ID.

4 of 155 comments (clear)

  1. Whoo. by tygerstripes · · Score: 3, Interesting
    Hmm. Impressive? The City of Norfolk in Norwich, UK, would beg to differ. To whit:
    a 4km radius from County Hall, as well as key sites to the east and west of the city: Broadland Business Park , University of East Anglia , Norwich Science Park and Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital. In addition 28 hotspots in South Norfolk will be enabled shortly.
    That's pretty decent coverage for a back-water city in UK farmer country, and it's free. Kind of throws some context into this article, I reckon.
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  2. Re:Disposable cell phones... by Thansal · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I worked in RS for a year or so.

    Walk in, ask for prepaid phone, give false info (no ID checked), pay with cash, walk out. I have sold phones to people I am relativly sure were ussing them for illicit goals, however I can't simply not sell them the phone as that is illegal :D

    On top of that msot prepaid phones can have their phone numbers changed with little or no hastle!

    If that isn't disposable, I don't know what is.

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  3. Just to clarify... by k4_pacific · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Toronto Hydro is the power company, not the water company. Just in case you were wondering.

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  4. Free for limited time by Midnight+Thunder · · Score: 2, Interesting

    It should be noted that it is only free for the initial trial period. Then, if experience of other city Wi-Fi solutions is anything to go by, then the hourly rate will be more than a days worth of home DSL.

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