Tourists
can now connect to the internet all over Taiwan, free of charge. The
Executive Yuan (Cabinet) and its subordinate agencies, together with
local governments, have set up about 4,400 “iTaiwan” WiFi hotspots at
major tourist spots, transportation hubs, cultural establishments, and
government offices all over the island. The Taiwan Tourism Bureau and
the Research, Development, and Evaluation Commission are working to
provide the utmost convenience for foreign visitors and eliminate any
communications problems they may encounter. This new service will
considerably brighten Taiwan’s already shining image for quality travel
services.
Tourists entering the island can apply for an iTaiwan account at a
Taiwan Tourism Bureau service counter or any visitor center throughout
the island. All they need is a passport; there is no charge. Once their
account is opened, they can go online with their Internet-enabled smart
phones, laptops, or tablet computers at any “iTaiwan” hotspot anywhere
on Taiwan. All they have to do is select the “iTaiwan” SSID, and enter
their account number and password. This gives them access to tourist
information and allows them to contact their friends anywhere in the
world.
In addition, iTaiwan has established roaming agreements with four
local governments so that tourists who have set up iTaiwan accounts also
have access to TPE-Free in Taipei City, New Taipei in the city of that
name, iTaichung in Taichung, and Tainan-WiFi in Tainan.
近幾年台灣的公共無線上網網絡建設日趨完善，除了現有台北市TPE-Free、新北市New Taipei、台中市iTaichung和台南市Tainan-WiFi等地方免費無線網絡之外，行政院在全台灣的主要公共場所提供有超過4千4百個wifi熱點的iTaiwan免費無線上網服務。iTaiwan以往只允許台灣手機號碼申請使用，外國遊客一般無法享用。不過，觀光局宣佈，從2013年5月起外國遊客也可以申請iTaiwan帳號，外國旅客到台灣，只要拿護照就能免費申請帳號，熱點遍布全台，沒有使用上限，在旅遊台灣時使用免費wifi上網。
