GoConnect (ASX: GCN) says it expects the free WiFi services it is planning to offer in the Melbourne CBD in conjunction with ISP Netbay Internet should launch by the end of February.

Remember when carrier operated public WiFi hotspots were all the rage? Telstra, Optus and a handful of private operators were rolling them out in coffee shops, airports and on the street. Sure every other coffee shop today has free WiFi, but the big telco-operated networks have all but disappeared. They could be about to make a comeback.

Broadband ISP Netbay Internet is planning a network of free-access, advertising-funded WiFi hotspots in metropolitan areas of Australia and has teamed up with GoConnect (ASX: GCN) to sell the advertising for the network.

A survey undertaken by New Zealand's Ministry of Economic Development has found the costs of data roaming for New Zealand businesses to be prohibitive to their staff doing business in Australia.

Global hotspot access provider, Boingo Wireless has launched a new unlimited Wi-Fi access plan designed for users wanting to connect laptops in the Asia Pacific region, including continental Asia and Australasia.

Service provider and device manufacturer members of the Wi-Fi Alliance have taken the first steps towards enabling users of public Wi-Fi networks to roam seamlessly and securely between the networks of different operators around the world and between cellular and Wi-Fi networks.

The NSW Government has extended a WiFi service launched last June on Manly Ferries - and provided using New Zealand company Tomizone - to most of the ferries in its fleet.

Telstra is to deploy 50 Hotspot Webphones from Perth-based PieNetworks for a four month trial with a view to a large scale deployment around Australia.

Telstra is to trial smart payphones with Internet access and in-built WiFi hotspots from Perth-based PieNETWORKs. Telstra has tried unsuccessfully at least four times in the past dozen years to deploy similar products in its network.

US based Boingo Wireless - which provides wireless Internet access around the globe through arrangements with local WiFi hotspot operators - has added the 16,000 Tomizone hotspots in Australia, China, India, New Zealand and several Pacific Islands, to its global network.