"Seoul City Public Wi-Fi Project: Absolute Majority of 10 Million Seoul Citizens Demand"

Seoul District Mayors' Council to Announce Position Statement on Seoul Public Wi-Fi Project on the Morning of the 23rd... "Request to Actively Support Beyond Narrow Legal Interpretation of the Telecommunications Business Act by the Ministry of Science and ICT"

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] The Seoul Metropolitan Council of District Mayors (Chairman: Dobong District Mayor Dongjin Lee) announced a statement on the Seoul Metropolitan Council of District Mayors' position regarding the Seoul public Wi-Fi project at 9:30 a.m. on the 23rd in the briefing room of Seoul City Hall.

The main points are that first, it is a fundamental duty for local governments to expand public services for citizens, and the Seoul public Wi-Fi project is a demand of the overwhelming majority of the ten million Seoul citizens. Therefore, the Ministry of Science and ICT (hereinafter referred to as the MSIT) was urged to actively support the public Wi-Fi project promoted by Seoul City by moving away from a narrow interpretation of the law.

Also, regarding the promotion of Seoul City's public Wi-Fi project, if there are conflicting elements among related laws or institutional deficiencies, the MSIT was requested to actively engage in institutional improvements.

Along with this, the Seoul Metropolitan Council of District Mayors stated that it will actively cooperate with Seoul City so that the public Wi-Fi project can be expanded and established throughout all 25 autonomous districts as soon as possible.

To expand the Seoul public Wi-Fi service project, on the 9th, Seoul City and five autonomous districts (Seongdong-gu, Eunpyeong-gu, Dobong-gu, Gangseo-gu, Guro-gu) signed a 'Business Agreement for the Construction of S-Nnet.'

The Seoul Metropolitan Council of District Mayors commissioned a professional polling agency (Global Research) to conduct a public opinion survey over three days from September 18 to 20 to hear the opinions of Seoul citizens regarding the Seoul public Wi-Fi project.

As a result, ▲ 73.5% agreed that "the Seoul public Wi-Fi project should be promoted as a matter of citizens' basic communication rights," ▲ 17.8% believed that "the public Wi-Fi expansion policy should be withdrawn according to the MSIT's legal interpretation," and ▲ 80.0% expressed that the project to expand public Wi-Fi service throughout residential areas by Seoul City is "necessary," confirming that Seoul City's public Wi-Fi project enjoys overwhelming support from citizens.