The Age (of Australia) has put together a list of top ten digital cities based on different metrics such as broadband speed, cost of bandwidth, wireless connectivity, technology adoption and future potential. It is no surprise Seoul tops the list of the cities, followed by Singapore, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Stockholm rounding off the top spot. In Seoul, “Broadband is available in four out of five Seoul households and costs just $40 a month for speeds up to 100Mbps.”
Singapore is planning to deliver 1 Gbps to its residents by 2012. In comparison, we pay about $45 a month for about 6 megabits per second. No wonder San Francisco Bay Area comes in at #6, while New York comes in at #8. NY apparently is ranked in the list because of presence of large number wireless hot spots. Visitors to NY would disagree, for finding Wi-Fi is not as easy as it seems. If broadband and wireless connectivity, then one shouldn’t be surprised by the presence of future digital cities Tallinn, Estonia (#7), Beijing (#9) and New Songdo City, South Korea (#10).
13 comments so far
7:53 PM PT
Does anyone know where I can get free wifi in San Francisco’s Union Square?
8:19 PM PT
you can go down and sit closer to the gucci store you can pick up free wifi - google-backed network i think. there is another company, feeva offering that as well.
8:34 PM PT
Thanks Om! I’ll be there on vacation in 2 weeks. I love SF.
8:35 PM PT
Hope to be using my new iPhone. :-)
8:37 PM PT
Good time to be in SF. The weather is awfully nice these days.
11:15 PM PT
100Mbps? Smokin’!
12:56 AM PT
And I thought that Tel Aviv, with so many hotspots in cafes was in the top ten. Well, maybe next time…
3:26 AM PT
From what I’ve heard, Talinn should probably be number one. Free Wi-Fi everywhere you go; e-voting, e-government, no need to ever submit a same personal document twice, personal ID card can be used for voting, banking, basically anything related to the government; spending of government money 100% transparent online, in real time…etc, etc.
6:59 AM PT
I have been wanting to go to Talinn for so long but the process of getting a visa etc isn’t all that easy. Anyway with this summer almost half over, i am going to attempt it next year. it is pretty awesome place and broadband is plentiful.
7:24 AM PT
Estonia seems to be well ahead, Ive heard that they have wi-fi in busses too, just like in Korea.
11:53 AM PT
Not to get picky, but the title should say “cities” not “cites”.
12:04 PM PT
Thanks Jay. Sorry for the spelling error.
5:23 AM PT
Thats neat .. $40 for 100 Mbps..The Koreans have it good , Here in Bangalore I pay a little more than $20 for a filthy 256kbps connection
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