A major bus station in Ho Chi Minh City on Thursday became the first of its kind in Vietnam to be equipped with free Wi-Fi access to serve passengers.

Wireless Internet access is now available at the waiting section of the Mien Tay (Western) bus station in Binh Tan District, according to the terminus management board.

The free Wi-Fi covers an area of around 900 square meters of the 47,000 square meter bus station, where passenger buses depart for – or arrive from – Mekong Delta localities such as Tien Giang, Ben Tre, Dong Thap, Ca Mau, or Can Tho City.

Mien Tay is the first bus station to feature free Wi-Fi access in Vietnam.  

The Wi-Fi installation cost around VND3 billion (US$139,808), said the station director, Kieu Nam Thanh.

Thanh added a study is being conducted on covering the entire bus station with wireless Internet.

“Passengers will be able to access the Internet when they step into the bus station, or sit on the buses while waiting for departure,” he said, adding the plan is expected to be implemented after the Lunar New Year, or Tet, which falls on February 19.

Providing free Wi-Fi access has also emerged as a good way to attract passengers for the Vietnamese railway sector, with wireless Internet slated to be available free of charge on the country’s north to south express train by the end of this month.

Installation of the Wi-Fi system is expected to be completed by January 21 to serve passengers during Tet, according to newswire The Saigon Times Online.

Wi-Fi access will be available gratis on the SE1, SE2, SE3, and SE4 trains on the railway that connects Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

If the installation goes smoothly on the first four selected trains, it will be applied to all trains under Vietnam Railways, the state-owned operator of the national railway system.

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