Penangites can now enjoy up to a 100 percent increase in Internet speed following the state government’s upgrading of the bandwidth by 400 percent.

The additional bandwidth is costing the Penang government an additional RM25,000 monthly, from RM 129,200 to RM 154,200, Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said.

Lim, who announced the good news today, said the five-fold increase in bandwidth, from 75Mbps to 375Mbps, was implemented before Chinese New Year.

However, the move was kept under wrap.

“We did not want to announce it before Chinese New Year because we wanted the people to experience it first,” Lim said at a press conference today.

Lim said users of the free Penang WiFi service - launched in 2009, a year after Pakatan Rakyat seized the state from BN - would now be able to enjoy a faster speed of 1Mbps, compared with 512Kbps previously.

Part of plan to boost broadband penetration

A component of the Wireless@Penang initiative, the Penang Free WiFi service - provided by Redtone - was launched to provide 24/7 free Internet access at public places, he added.

“This is part of the state’s plan to boost broadband penetration in the state, where 1,550 hotspots are located in all the state’s 40 constituencies,” Lim said.

These areas include the 10 constituencies won by BN-Umno in the 13th general election held in May 2013.

Accompanying Lim at the press conference were state executive councillor Chow Kon Yeow ( left ) and Redtone International Bhd’s president and chief business officer, Shaifubahrim Saleh.

Chow, described as the Penang broadband czar who handled the discussions with Redtone, took over the job from Jelutong parliamentarian Jeff Ooi, in October last year.

Lim said since its launch six years ago, the free WiFi service has been very popular and has to date, close to 600,000 registered users.

He added that an average 20,000 users log in to the service daily with usage peaking at 75Mbps from 11am to 10pm.

“This has caused congestion and a slowdown in the speed, prompting the state government to enhance the bandwidth with an additional 300Mbps to benefit the users,” Lim explained.