Free WiFi. What's not to like?
Thursday, March 21, 2013 by: Darren Taylor
Look for a lot more WiFi accessibility in Sault Ste. Marie.
At a presentation held at the Sault Ste. Marie Innovation Centre (SSMIC) Thursday, Shaw representatives Tyler Hurley and Marko Koskenoja (pictured) unveiled Shaw’s plan to greatly expand the number of WiFi-accessible places in the community, so that anyone with a Shaw account and a laptop, smart phone or any other WiFi accessible device can more easily access online information in places other than work or home.
Koskenoja told SooToday.com Shaw is aiming to have 500 such WiFi-accessible spots in Sault Ste. Marie during a marketing campaign to be held over the next several months.
Koskenoja said: “If you are a Shaw customer with a Shaw e-mail address, once we proliferate the city of Sault Ste. Marie with these new WiFi zones, you can take your laptop and go to a local restaurant and you will automatically be able to log on to the Shaw network across the city.”
Shaw officials described the ramped-up WiFi accessibility as ‘the third place’ to access the Internet outside the home or office without the meter running, which is the case with accessing the online world with a smart phone.
Koskenoja said Shaw’s marketing campaign for increased WiFi accessibility is in its infancy in Sault Ste. Marie.
“Today was an ideal opportunity to start talking about this with potential clients at the Innovation Centre.”
The service, which will allow Shaw customers to access such entertainment as TV programming and movies provided by Shaw, is free, Koskenoja emphasized.
“If you leave your home, instead of being on your cellular phone network, you’ll be on your Shaw WiFi service. The signal will go with you, so if you go to a restaurant or the Essar Centre, for example, you won’t lose the signal.”
Koskenoja says he will be literally going door-to-door pitching Shaw’s WiFi service.
“I think that many people in Sault Ste. Marie will understand, and think what’s not to like?”
“It will be cheaper, with no meter running, unlike a cell phone network.”
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Flyers08 3/21/2013 9:46:19 PM ReportSounds great! Keep up the good work.
d'sbored 3/21/2013 9:51:48 PM ReportAwesome idea!
thesharr 3/21/2013 10:02:02 PM ReportNow there's a company giving back to the community.Way to go Shaw,just for that, I'm switching everything to Shaw!!!!!
kamen 3/21/2013 10:29:02 PM ReportA shaw email address? Does it cost money to use a shaw email address...It sounds great for sure, I just want to know how you get a shaw email address...
T-pot 3/21/2013 10:35:23 PM ReportBy having Shaw internet you get free email addresses.
James O'Brien 3/21/2013 10:54:35 PM ReportI was in Guadalajara Mexico over March break. The city is blanketed with truly free wifi in public spaces. No specific account is required.
The same is true of long distance buses run by Primera Plus in Mexico. Clearly we have a ways to go.
oldred 3/21/2013 11:04:47 PM ReportOk SYMPATICO,,your turn!!
Sault_ont 3/21/2013 11:06:27 PM ReportIs this shaw wifi Available yet cause IM with shaw
book-end 3/21/2013 11:10:57 PM ReportSounds like a drive to re-crute new customers to me. They have ( pretty much ) a monopoly on television and now want to expand their customer base on internet. Dont be fooled, they are not doing this out of community spirit or being " good Corperate neighbors " they are doing it because there is money to be made plain and simple ! Just 2 or 3 weeks ago I heard something about the US government having plans to make tbe whole country a WIFI zone.
BlackHelix 3/21/2013 11:18:07 PM ReportJesus you guys are old.
Sympatico? OMG I haven't heard that name in years. It doesn't even exist anymore. It's just Bell.
And make the whole country (US) a wifi zone? Do you even know what that would involve? You need to stop watching Alex Jones.
I guess my suspicions were true. Everyone on here is at least 60.
book-end 3/21/2013 11:19:56 PM ReportJust a foot note. Remember they said " anyone with a Shaw E-mail address". How do you get a Shaw e-mail adress ? Pay them what ever they charge plus ad-ons ( whatever else they can sell you ( at a promotion price of course. Only to be near doubled at the end of your promotion... Be it. 60 or 90 days )
book-end 3/21/2013 11:27:19 PM ReportBlackHelix
Call me nuts if you wish... But I know what I heard. Maybe it is programs like that, that put the US in such fiscal crisis but they keep on keeping on .
Retreaded 3/21/2013 11:47:59 PM ReportAnyone but BELL in our house...bewary of them. Easy to sign up..hard to get rid of them...took us 5 months to settle everything.SHAW ALL THE WAY NOW.
Right of Centre 3/22/2013 12:04:36 AM ReportThere's no monopoly, I had Bell for a decade, for all the services I have with Shaw now. After about 5 years with Shaw, I can say I don't regret the change one bit. So what, if Shaw gives free wifi as an enticement to get new customers, and to give a perk to existing customers? It's called business.
book-end 3/22/2013 12:59:36 AM ReportYes there are alternatives to Shaw and Bell for home phone and internet, and I found one that is good for me ( phone and internet for under $60.00 a month, lncludes caller ID, answering etc. ) and the service is very good, as is the customer service on the odd occasion that I have to call them, and guess what .... They speak English as a first language.
Brent 3/22/2013 1:41:42 AM ReportWay To Go SHAW Rock The New WiFi Spots Hope Its Catches on But Sault Ste Marie Is In Dire Need Of Something Else *Besides the Darn Potholes Filled* IS Some HighSpeed LTE !!! COME ON ROGERS SPEED US UP WITH SOME LTE 4G's Nice but LTE Would Rock!! ... But Yay Free WiFi
PunkBob 3/22/2013 3:35:07 AM ReportThis could greatly reduce my cell phone bill.....if they locate one in the west end close to the plant. haha, not but really, this is good.
sassafras 3/22/2013 7:52:08 AM Reportbook-end Please tell us who you are with for phone and internet. I'd like to look in to it. Thanks!
babygirl67001 3/22/2013 8:36:47 AM ReportI have Vianet Internet Soluions for internet and home phone. Free caller id, call answer, 3 way calling the whole bit. All for $54.00 per month. Have NEVER had to call a tech for anyhing. I would never switch. Only thing I have with Shaw is cable tv.
zdc 3/22/2013 9:45:33 AM ReportIt's not free, you have to be paying your personal account at home to be able to access it
crashed13 3/22/2013 9:53:44 AM ReportShaw is kicking Bells butt. I do not know anyone with Bell TV or landline or internet anylonger.
book-end 3/22/2013 10:03:52 AM ReportBabygirl
I know what you mean... I too am with vianet. I am truly surprised that so many people I tell that to, have never heard of them
crashed13 3/22/2013 10:14:32 AM ReportBabyGirl
"Only thing I have with Shaw is cable tv"
========================================
Get a HDMI cord from your computer to your Tv and go to "LetMeWatchThis.com"
and you will not even need cable.
Pretty well the way it works is if you can spell it you can watch it.
Sam C 3/22/2013 10:52:19 AM ReportBlack Helix... people do still have Sympatico accounts.
As for this "free wi-fi" -- it is "free" if you are a Shaw customer. It does not seem to be true "free wi-fi" that is available to anyone with a wi-fi enabled device. Still, Shaw has upped the ante, and hopefully others will follow.
Stugatzu 3/22/2013 11:02:25 AM ReportVianet actually buys bandwidth from Shaw. You're using Shaw's network, but you aren't a Shaw customer. I used to be a Vianet customer at one time.
While I commend Shaw for setting up free Wifi hotspots; what I'd really like to know is why does Shaw offer people in the western provinces a substantially better rate for services than what is offered in our parts. A while back in the media they were addressing Shaw with these questions with no answer given. In BC they were offering Internet/Telephone/TV bundles for $29.95 --- making a killing on the shear volume sales based on population... while at the same time, OUR rates went up.
Now if only Shaw would pay their employees and issue them T4 slips, rather than call them "independent contractors" to avoid paying taxes (in the news 2 weeks ago) -- they'd be a model company.
Other than that... free Wifi for EXISTING customers is just offering us something we've been paying for and not receiving, for a very long time. Other larger communities with Shaw have been getting Wifi for a long long time.
Just like my "50Mbit/s" connection.. that NEVER PEAKS PAST 25 Mb/s AT ANY TIME OF THE DAY.
rcssm69 3/22/2013 12:01:42 PM Reportoldred...sympatico??? Really??? Dial-up???
Sault_ont...did you READ the article???
book-end...what's your point??? Read the fine print!!!
Brent...potholes??? Get a life and find another post!!!
I have been pleased since I switched to Shaw! This is just a next step to keeping my business! Not concerned what is happening out west. I knew what I was getting when I signed up!
Keep up the good work!!!
muddslinger6 3/22/2013 12:19:02 PM ReportWhats going to stop people from registering someone else's wi-fi device who doesn't have shaw then they get free wi-fi where ever they go.
rcssm69 3/22/2013 12:27:36 PM ReportApparently, it will somehow use your IP address and the use will come off of your plan. Don't quote me!
This may stop people if they start to run out of data!
rcssm69 3/22/2013 12:29:18 PM Reporthttp://www.shaw.ca/internet/wifi/?intcid=IB-2013-02-08-GoWiFi-S3-ALL-ALL
babygirl67001 3/22/2013 2:23:21 PM Reportthank you very much,crashed, for that info. I have been trying to figure out a way to rid myself of the ridiculous cost of cable. Definately going to take your advice. thanks again. you might be saving me a whole lot of money.
Lynds 3/23/2013 10:35:44 AM Reportsamc: "As for this "free wi-fi" -- it is "free" if you are a Shaw customer. It does not seem to be true "free wi-fi" that is available to anyone with a wi-fi enabled device. Still, Shaw has upped the ante, and hopefully others will follow."
YES, exactly. Whoever is whining about not being able to access this without a shaw email....FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS! oh no, you can't access city-wide free wifi oh noooooo.
PF92 3/23/2013 3:57:29 PM ReportWhat if your not with Shaw?
PF92 3/23/2013 4:01:56 PM Reportand to those who arent technology smart - "free" WiFi or a WiFi city isnt something far fetched OR a drive to get more customers. Toronto is completely wireless, its the new age, get used to it Sault Ste Marie, we can't sit here and try to preserve the Saults "Old style" through the years, technology makes the world go round, NOT MONEY, NOT POLITICS, NOTHING BUT TECHNOLOGY.
Note: Comments that appear on the site are not the opinion of SooToday.com. Keep discussions civil and on topic. Refrain from obscenity and don't post anything that your grandmother would be ashamed to read. Those who do not abide by these guidelines will have their membership revoked without notice. If you see an abusive post, please click the link beside the post to report it.
