Taipei gets 1,000-strong fleet of WiMAX-equipped taxis
By Donald Melanson 
posted March 4th 2010 6:14PM
posted March 4th 2010 6:14PM
Looking for something else to be envious of now that in-flight WiFi is starting to be more readily available? Then look no farther than Taipei, which has just announced the roll-out of a 1,000-strong fleet of WiMAX-equipped taxis. Alright, so a short cab ride might not send you into the same sort of internet withdrawal that a five hour flight does, but we're not ones to turn down mobile broadband when it crops up in places normally reserved for a bit of down-time or "conversation." Best of all, the in-taxi WiMAX will apparently be free during the initial stage, although VMAX Telcom hasn't yet decided if it will charge a fee in the future. No word on any expansion plans beyond the initial 1,000 cabs just yet either, but the service will apparently be limited to the greater Taipei area -- at least until VMAX's WiMAX coverage expands to other parts of Taiwan.[Thanks, Tim]
Update: Our pals at Engadget Chinese have informed us that in-taxi WiMAX will unfortunately only be used provide internet access to small touchscreen devices installed in the cabs, not to your laptop.
Porno on the road lol.
@techlord New meaning o the term Taxi Cab Confessions.
So will the cabs have WiMAX receivers that shares out data over wifi (eg 'here's the WEP key for this taxi: ' signs on the back of the front seats)?
Its amazing what you can do when you take tax money and actually use it wisely.
@Mentat True that.
@Mentat
This is wisely? how long is the average taxi cab? long enough to even get plugged into this thing? anyone who needs/wants internet that readily available will already have a 3g phone
@guroth
cough! Smartphones. Cough! cough!!!
@ Guroth
Have you ever seen traffic on cities like that? its horrendous not to mention we have no idea how the carrier will run it. they may use each car like a mobile mobile tower eventually covering the entire city without buying/taking land and space from citizens.
Eventually I could see alot of taxi's here in the US offering this because the only time the majority of Americans use taxi's is for the 30+ minute drive to and from the airport. I would be way more satisfied if I could pay $10 more and use my netbook to play a little Starcraft online on the way to the airport.
@Mentat
The average American's taxi ride is 5-10 minutes.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&q=average+taxi+trip+length&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=
@guroth
What are you talking about??? the 3rd link on your list was the Taxi statistics, 1st quarter 2007-4th quarter 2008 which says "An average taxi trip took 28 minutes in 2008 compared with 25 minutes in 2007"
@guroth I take it you've never been stuck in rush hour traffic in Taipei then...
@Mentat it's a private company doing this, it's not paid by by tax money
TAIPEI IN THE MotherFO BUILDING!
Can't you tailgate the taxi and get free internet axis?
@MrAffrox
Tailgate? Dude, there's going to be a thousand hotspots cruising around the city. You don't have to be in a car to get online.
*facepalm.
@Wesscoast I'm sure that the 1000 hotspots cruising around the city will give you a reliable, uninterrupted connection as each hotspot drives away from you. BTW it's also difficult to find a free wireless net connection around here.
odd... I thought Taiwan would be among the first with this. How is it Singapore has already have a publicly available FREE Wi-Fi network for the last... god knows how many years.
@darkmax They already do. They have the first and the one of the largest in the world...only thing is that you have to pay for it...cost is low though. It's not some taxpayer funded boondoggle. I use it all the time when I visit Taipei. you can buy prepaid cards at 7-11 or starbucks and can use it in alot of places.
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1026413/the-inq-guide-to-using-taipeis-city-wide-wifi
@darkmax the free WiFi in Singapore is meant to be switched off this year, no?
@darkmax ah, 2013... still...
@victor
Yeah... but the one in Singapore is totally free anywhere within the city limits.
@TheLostSwede
It was supposed to end a few years ago, but it has already been extended (twice I think). My guess is when the FTH starts this year, it is likely the free Wi-Fi will be extended in both range and expiry.
couldn't Taipei just get Municipal range WiMAX?
It's amazing how by so many technological metrics (broadband speeds, wireless phone technology, etc) compared to so many countries (Korea, UK, etc) the US is such a third world country.
@John H
Who said it was a third world country?
@John H Yeah. And people always throw out the argument that the US is bigger... yes it is... but that doesn't mean we couldn't have at least a couple cities or regions with respectable internet speeds. I mean christ, you'd think Silicon Valley for all its technological innovations would have the latest and greatest. But no, fucking Baltimore got WiMAX before they will.
@HurricaneDC
The US has about 5 big cities, the rest of them are tiny.
What makes you think it was done with tax money? Something like this seems like it was set up by the telecom and the taxi company.
"Follow that Taxi!" = free interwebs
I hope to fuck that these aren't new taxis; the last thing we need are MORE betelnut crazed drivers driving between lanes cutting people off and screwing up traffic while they scout for fares. I'm not saying it isn't convenient and there aren't some awesome taxi drivers out there, but you can never trust what a taxi driver'll do, in or out of the taxi (http://bit.ly/blhojw).