Recent local media headlines credit the current mayor of Puerto Vallarta for bringing free Wifi to the city. If this sounds like Déjà vu, it’s because this story was reported three years ago during the completion of the new Malécon.
Headline’s today:
As part of Mayor Ramón Guerrero Martínez’s strategy to make it easier for Puerto Vallarta residents and visitors to discover all of the benefits that this resort destination offers, Telecable has installed free Internet access in many of the city’s public areas.
Headline’s December 1, 2011:
Since last night, access to internet in the Malecon is completely free of charge. The initiative came from the authorities of Puerto Vallarta, and it has become a reality thanks to the support of Telmex, company that is providing the service. According to Vallarta Opina, Mr. González said that “today, the people of Vallarta have free internet in Pitillal, Ixtapa, Las Juntas and now, the Malecon.”
What is different about the free Wifi of today and yesterday?
1. Telecable is now the service provider; previously Telmex supplied the free Wifi.
2. Now people connecting to the internet hotspot will be served ads by local businesses, previously the free Wifi was ad free.
3. The new Wifi is unlimited connection, previously users could only be connected to the system for a maximum of 2 hours per connection.
4. The coverage areas and the internet speeds will remain the same as always.
The only thing we can hope for in the new-old Wifi is that the connection speeds with Telecable are faster than what was offered by TelMex.