Bus No.49 rolls out with free Wi-Fi

A major local bus operator began offrering free Wi-Fi on the No.49 bus line Wednesday, making it the first route in the city to offer wireless Internet service that doesn't require passengers to log-in or register.

All of the line's 29 buses will be equipped with the free service, according to He Fang, a press officer from Shanghai Ba-Shi Public Transportation Group, the city's main bus operator.

"We created the service to cater to people who want to be online as much as possible," He told the Global Times.

Shanghai Ba-Shi equipped each bus with devices that convert China Mobile's 3G signal to Wi-Fi, said Yang Fubing, an engineer from the company. The maximum bandwidth is 1.6 megabytes per second, enough to allow 20 to 25 passengers browse the Internet at the same time.

The service has no limits on time or data use, He said.

Other bus lines in the city also provide free Wi-Fi, including the No.82, No.970, No.926 and No.454, Shanghai Television Station reported.

However, those services require passengers to register an account, Yang said. They also only allow passengers to use the service with a Web browser. Other applications on their devices are unable to connect.

If successful, Shanghai Ba-Shi may provide the same service on its other bus lines, He added.