Mohamed El-Khoori and Reem al-Mansoori announce the iParks initiative.

Free wireless Internet is being introduced at two new parks in Qatar as part of the iParks initiative of the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology.
The communities in Shahaniya and Umm Salal are now able to take advantage of free, high-speed connectivity while enjoying the beautiful parks.
With both parks being officially launched on the sidelines of the third edition of Qatar ICT Conference and Exhibition (Qitcom 2014), there will now be nine iParks across Qatar.
The iParks initiative, launched in 2007 in collaboration with the Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning (MMUP), has seen a steady increase in users in the current seven iParks. The number of users benefiting from free Wi-Fi access in public parks tripled over the past three years. Now, iParks have more than 14,000 unique users per month, exceeding 60,000 sessions and 450 unique users each day.
The ICT ministry has worked in collaboration with the Public Parks Department of the MMUP on the iParks project as part of its commitment to connect the people of Qatar to the technologies that can enrich their lives.
“Residents of Al Rayan Municipality and Umm Slal Municipality will now enjoy free, high-speed Internet connection,” said Reem al-Mansoori, executive director, ICT & Society, Ministry of Information and Communications Technology.   
Mohamed El-Khoori, director of the MMUP’s Public Parks Department, said: “We have been working closely with the Ministry of Information Communications Technology to provide free Wi-Fi in our public parks. Today, we are proud of the iParks, an initiative launched by the Public Parks Department in collaboration with the ICT ministry.”
The bilateral work is to continue towards further expansion of the initiative to include new iParks in the coming years. Qatar aims to have a majority of its public parks and public places connected to wireless Internet by 2015.
Besides the two new ones, there are iParks in Doha at Rumaila, Sheraton and Dahl Al-Haman as well as in Dukhan, Simaisma, Al Wakrah and Corniche Al Khor.
Visitors to the iParks follow a simple registration and authentication process to access the Wi-Fi in each park, with access information available in both Arabic and English.
The service has been made easier as smartphones can now access the free Wi-Fi with an SMS log-on system.
The iParks’ wireless connection is completely secure with an authentication process providing users with a secure PIN code sent by text once they register for the service. Users can get technical support if needed through the government call centre on 44069955.



Related Story