Melbourne's free city wi-fi poised for major upgrade

Melbourne’s free city wi-fi is set for an upgrade, almost a decade after it was first piloted by iiNet.

VicFreeWiFi was launched in 2016 and currently services around 50,000 unique users per month in the City of Melbourne local government area.

However, with the network infrastructure approaching end-of-life, the Victorian government is looking to improve speed, capacity and make the wi-fi more functional, in line with newer mobile devices and "computing standards".

In addition, the Victorian government said that “the role of free public wi-fi has changed significantly in recent years”.

In a request for information, Victoria’s department of government services (DGS) said the wi-fi service was launched to “encourage tourism, promote digital inclusion, and boost economic activity”.

With the upgrade, the DGS is looking to “reduce barriers to digital inclusion, as well as [emphasise] emergency resilience”.

The government may also integrate additional technology such as transport monitoring, internet of things, CCTV, digital signs, Eduroam and a public address system.

Locations included in the VicFreeWifi zone are Bourke Street Mall, Swanston Street, Exhibition Street and Queen Victoria Market.

Flinders Street Station and Southern Cross Station will form part of the refresh, as well as numerous public buildings including the Town Hall, National Art Gallery Precinct and the outside of the State Library.

The DGS has also earmarked ‘growth areas’ such as Docklands, Fishermans Bend Precinct and Arden Precinct, alongside ‘recreation’ areas such as the Botanic Gardens.

iiNet initially won the $6.7 million deal to build and operate Melbourne CBD’s free wi-fi network, alongside those of Ballarat and Bendigo, in 2014. It is now operated by TPG Telecom, which bought iiNet for $1.56 billion in 2015.

iTnews understands that TPG Telecom intends to bid to run the refreshed service.

Originally billed as the “largest wi-fi deployment in Australia”, the project was handled through a partnership between the state government and Melbourne City Council and originally named ‘VicGovFree’.

The project is now overseen by the DGS, which was established on January 1 and comes with the mission to “connect and digitise [Victoria’s] systems and platforms”.