The Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) is establishing a connected city with broadband network infrastructure by installing free WiFi hotspots throughout the city in cooperation with the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) and Internet service providers.

The city plans to install a lot of 6,500 additional hotspots this year. So far, the city installed 4,530 hotspots (2,373 at tourist attractions and 2,157 in welfare facilities) in the first half of the year, covering Cheonggyecheon Stream, Itaewon Special Tourist Zone, and Gyeongdong Market in Dongdaemun-gu. Additional 2,000 hotspots will be installed in the second half of the year.

As of 2021, the city has installed a total of 23,476 WiFi hotspots since 2011 when it started its free public WiFi installation project. Now, the city is intensively expanding installation to locations frequented by citizens, such as streets with a high floating population, traditional markets, public parks, waterfront areas, and tourist attractions, as well as welfare facilities, such as social welfare centers and bus stops.

The city aims to not only ensure citizens’ right to broadband, but also close the digital divide by providing citywide public WiFi network coverage so that citizens of all ages can enjoy high-speed and easy-to-use public WiFi at any time and at anywhere without the burden of phone bills.

This time, the city is installing WiFi hotspots with its newly produced user guide stickers to enhance the convenience of citizens and promote more use. These new user guide stickers have improved readability and durability that stick well on difficult-to-attach surfaces, such as rough-surfaced street lights and curved telephone poles.

Seoul is putting in effort to rise as an attractive city in solidarity with the digitally disadvantaged by actively promoting and expanding its high-speed public WiFi network so that citizens as well as tourists can conveniently enjoy broadband access