Debated in Parliament on 8 Oct 2014.
Er Dr Lee Bee Wah asked the Minister for Transport with the introduction of free wi-fi services at select MRT stations (a) what is the outcome of the trial; and (b) when will this service be extended to Khatib MRT station which has a high volume of commuters.
Madam, the WIFI@MRT trial was launched on 22 August 2014 at City Hall, Orchard and Raffles Place MRT station platforms. It has been well-received. More than 100,000 commuters used the free wi-fi service on the first day, and this has steadily increased to more than 145,000 users today. The WIFI@MRT service will be made available at Khatib MRT station by next year.
Mr Zaqy Mohamad.
I thank the Parliamentary Secretary for his reply. I am not going to ask for just Choa Chu Kang station. I am going to ask in terms of roll-out plans. How does the Ministry plan to deploy from the town centres, all the way up to Khatib and the rest?
Madam, Mr Zaqy asked a very reasonable question. I must say that it is a trial period, lasting two years. And we are focusing our efforts, starting with the interchange stations, including Choa Chu Kang and also stations where there are high volumes of commuters. If we find it well-received and Singaporeans like it and
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use it, ultimately, we will roll it out to the rest of the MRT stations.
Beyond that, we are looking at how we can enhance the travel experience of Singaporeans. LTA is assessing how we can also provide wi-fi services on buses, in the interchanges, as well as, as I said earlier, at more MRT stations.
Er Dr Lee Bee Wah, are you asking for something else?
I thank the Parliamentary Secretary. I am glad to hear that, by next year, commuters at Khatib MRT station will be able to use the free wi-fi. I would like to ask which month next year. Is it January or December next year?
Madam, we have plans for Khatib. I think at the end of the day, Khatib is one of the stations that has high commuter traffic. I think it will be one of the priority stations next year.
Mdm Speaker : I think you have opened Pandora's box. Mr David Ong.
I want to thank the Parliamentary Secretary for his response that more stations will be wi-fi ready and, hopefully, it will be nation-wide. I think it is a given that all of us would need it. So, I would hope that the Ministry could roll out wi-fi in all the MRT stations, as commuters will have a need for it.
The Member has made a good point, Madam. Nevertheless, we want to make sure that we roll it out in a manner that will be able to reach out to many people without much of a hiccup. Today, we are testing out the whole process. It has been well-received. Nevertheless, we want to see how we can facilitate it better. So, I assure the Member that we are seriously looking into it because at the end of the day, we are committed to enhancing the travel experience of our commuters.
PAPERCUTS