SEA Games: Free WiFi at Sports Hub

SEA Games: Free WiFi at Sports Hub

Regular concert-goers would have experienced "connectivity" issues.

It's only natural to Whatsapp friends or share and upload photographs taken at popular concerts.

But sometimes the inability to upload images often dampens the excitement.

The good news is you are not going to face this problem if you are one of the thousands of spectators at the 28th SEA Games.

For the whole of this month, Consistel Networks, a telecommunications service provider, and its sister company OMG!, will be sponsoring free WiFi access at the Sports Hub games venue in Kallang.

Why are they doing this?

Well, Consistel Networks' vice-president of Product Development Tooraj Forughian told The New Paper (TNP) that it was his company's way of giving back and celebrating Singapore's 50 years of nationhood.

It is also to showcase the strength of the infrastructure which can deal with large crowds.

Said Forughian (above): "We want people to enhance their 'spectator experience'. If they get good, seamless connectivity and if they can convey the excitement of the games to their friends, we would have done our job."

Access to the free WiFi can be found at these competition locations - the National Stadium, Singapore Indoor Stadium, the Aquatic Centre, Multi-purpose Arena, Kallang Wave Mall, Library, Museum and executive suites. But users must first log in (see sidebar).

While providing the service may appear daunting as it is a "fairly hefty investment", Forughian said his company has had practice.

It managed more than 30,000 fans' connectivity needs when UK boyband One Direction performed at the National Stadium in March this year.

At present, there are close to 700 access points at the Sports Hub to cater to spectators' needs.

The dense number of access points allows for speedier upload and download times.

Data from previous events suggested that spectators usually upload and download videos clips on YouTube, update their Facebook pages, send out live Tweets, use Whatsapp or WeChat and surprisingly, upgrade their Apps software, revealed Forughian.

He said engineers and technicians will be on-site during the competitions to remedy any network issues.

5 easy steps to free WiFi

Scan for "OMG" or "CONSISTEL" SSIDs.

Using the browser, select SIGN UP in the login portal.

Register your local or foreign mobile phone number.

Receive your password via SMS

LOGIN and start surfing the Internet

This article was first published on June 05, 2015.
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