Merida, Yucatan — By mid-July every park in the city will have free Wi-Fi, said municipal IT Director Hernán Mojica Ruiz.
Although free public internet access isn’t new, the city has upgraded 26 percent of its routers and other equipment. By the time all the old equipment is replaced, public Wi-Fi will be faster and have better capacity, he said.
“We will conclude in mid-June as 100 percent of the equipment fully upgraded with technology that will provide better quality service and expand the capacity from 100 to 250 users,” he explained.
Merida today has more than 202 free-internet access points, including many in the Centro Historico, Paseo de Montejo Avenue, the Centenario and Animaya zoos and in 32 public buildings.
He explained that the equipment is of the best quality but requires constant maintenance because they are out in the open and vulnerable to weather, tree branches and vandalism. Each week, his department receives about 50 reports of lost service, usually because of an electrical issue.
The greatest demand is from young people in the Plaza Grande and surrounding downtown parks.
Free Wi-Fi began in 2017 when the previous administration spent 11.6-million pesos to cover 53 city blocks.
According to the federal statistics agency, Merida is among the top 10 most connected cities in Mexico.
