YTL Communications says it has completed its Terragraph Market Trial, allowing it to deliver free public WiFi at 50 locations in George Town, Penang.

It claims the gigabit wireless network offers fibre-like broadband speeds, delivering a peak speed of 170Mbps (megabits per second) for downloads and 160Mbps for uploads.

Over 19,000 unique users have enjoyed the service so far, it claims, adding that average consumption per user for the free public WiFi is 320MB per session.

The service experienced the highest consumption at Love Lane, Chulia Street, Kapitan Keling Mosque, Campbell Street, Goddess of Mercy Temple Penang, Chulia Street Night Market and Armenian Street.

“I have also been informed by Facebook that our Terragraph network is the largest in the world,” says State Housing, Local Government, Town and Rural Development Committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo.

“This further proves that Penang is ready not just to be a smart city, but a smart state.”

Wing K. Lee, YTL Communications CEO, says the company has successfully deployed 472 Terragraph nodes in George Town.

“We are proud to share that we have built the largest IPv6 and the largest millimeter wave wireless network in Malaysia – both of which are foundational to 5G networks," he says.  

The company is also offering 120 local businesses, NGOs (non-governmental organisations) and government offices in George Town fixed wireless access (FWA) which is also powered by Terragraph.

It’s also combining Terragraph with Gigawire, a technology that allows it to deliver gigabit speeds even on copper wire, at the Penang Chinese Town Hall.

Wing says as the company prepares to usher in an era of better connectivity and 5G, it will not forget about those still relying on copper wire technology.

Gigawire is also currently being trialled at select locations in Kuala Lumpur but the company will only make an announcement on it later.