March 24, 2006—Toronto Hydro Telecom has just announced plans to provide a blanket of Wi Fi coverage in the downtown core of Canada’s largest city, making Toronto the largest Wi Fi zone in Canada. Toronto joins the ranks of other major international cities such as San Francisco, Chicago, and London.
The plan calls for Toronto Hydro Telecom—a subsidiary of Toronto Hydro Corporation, which is fully owned by the City of Toronto—to install radio access points on streetlighting poles throughout a six-square-kilometer area. Utilizing the evenly spaced poles, recently purchased by Toronto, should eliminate the sporadic connectivity of most Wi Fi services, whose access points are usually housed in coffee shops and restaurants.
The plan promises to not only deliver better communications for businesses and the public, but to benefit such city agencies and departments as libraries, public transportation, and safety.
During the first six months of operation, Toronto Hydro Telecom will offer customers free access to its new Wi Fi zone, after which time a variety of access packages will be available at competitive rates.
