Beijing Bus Wi-Fi Equipping to Be Completed by Year's End

As much as we'd like to believe this one, for now we'll file reports that 90 percent of Beijing's public buses will receive free Wi-Fi by the end of the year under "yeah, right."

Since we've heard promises of free public connectivity in and around Beijing since at least 2007, skepticism in order. It's been the private sector, in the form of bars, cafés, and restaurants providing their customers with free access that has kept all of our data plans intact all of these years. Here are just the reports from 2014 and 2015 of promised Wi-Fi that never connected. 

However, in this case, the system was actually rolled out in early 2014, as we described at the time. Getting online is possible, although requires a bit of Chinese or following the instructions of our handy guide. "The connection was stable, if not particularly fast," our reporter said.

RELATED: How to Set Up Your Wi-Fi Connection of Beijing's Public Buses

The Wi-Fi is available on 12,000 buses, and that by the end of the year, "'Ninety-five percent of the buses within the Fifth Ring Road offer free Wi-Fi, and the remaining five percent will be discarded,'" according to Qiu Zhaomin of the cryptically-named "Wi-Fi provider." When you need Wi-Fi in Beijing, think "Wi-Fi provider."

What remains unclear is if 12,000 are already equipped, which other buses are getting the service? It would certainly be welcome on buses headed to the outer reaches of the Beijing universe, such as Tongzhou and Yanjiao. 

We're still waiting for the fabled subway Wi-Fi system, or even more reliable connections offered by local mobile connectivity providers, especially Unicom, whose Wi-Fi service pops up occasion but never seems to click on.

More stories by this author here.

Email: stevenschwankert@thebeijinger.com
Twitter: @greatwriteshark
Weibo:​ @SinoScuba潜水

Photo: Tour Beijing