Zhejiang will become the first province in China to provide free, 24-hour Internet access to all of its residents. The province plans to create 300,000 free WiFi hotspots as well as a province-wide Local Area Network (LAN) called “i-zhejiang”, at 150,000 locations.
Users will be required to log in once in order to receive the free service, which is expected to start later this year.
Li Min, an engineer with the Zhejiang Economy and Informatization Commission, said they hope to improve the WiFi capabilities to the point where users are able to use peer-to-peer file sharing services to download movies from each other on the go.
Several larger cities throughout China already offer limited access to free WiFi. People in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Hangzhou are able to access free WiFi on public transportation, at the airport, and when visiting certain tourist attractions.