Vancouver could be joining the ranks of cities around the world that are providing free Wi-Fi in public spaces.
The Vancouver park board will hear from Vision Commissioner Trevor Loke April 14 about his notice of motion to install free Wi-Fi around Vancouver’s parks and beaches. Loke said Wi-Fi would benefit businesses, residents and tourists by providing them with more options to use these spaces.
“There’s a lot of utility in people enjoying our parks in different ways,” Loke told the Courier Monday. “Perhaps people want to be on a Kindle in a park and read there, and Wi-Fi would allow them to do that. They should be able to choose how they use the public space.”
When it comes to an installation timeline and budget, Loke hopes a report by city staff will inform park board commissioners on the appropriate action.
“We would be very targeted about where the Wi-Fi rolls out initially. When you’re dealing with technology you have to think on the basis that there will be perhaps things that aren’t working and it needs to be rolled out as we fix any bugs... we want to take a cautious approach on this.”
However, Kitsilano resident James Goodman quickly raised concerns with several commissioners when he heard of Loke’s propoposal. Goodman told the Courier, Wi-Fi shouldn’t be a priority given park board’s “tight budget.”
“I see people on their cellphones, on their iPad, on their laptop working in the park all the time,” the retired electrical engineer said. “It doesn’t really seem like Wi-Fi is an issue. It’s a simple matter of tethering your laptop to your iPhone if you need access.”
Goodman suspects that the board is addressing the issue because it’s election year and it “sounds catchy.”
“They need to... get on with managing the park,” he added.
Although some cities such as Quebec City, Taipei and New York City have free Wi-Fi in some public spaces, Tourism Vancouver spokesperson Amber Sessions believes it could differentiate Vancouver from other cities that currently don’t have free Wi-Fi.
“From a tourism promotional perspective, social media is such a big travel influence over people. People seeing photos and status updates of their friends on vacation can really inspire people to actually visit a place themselves.
“So allowing some of our international travelers who don’t have data packages [in] Canada—allowing them to easily share great Vancouver experiences in parks and beaches would be great for tourism.”
Sessions isn’t worried about those who go to the city’s parks and beaches to unplug. She says it’s as simple as turning one’s phone off or putting it away.
