TRAVELLERS to Changi Airport now have free Wi-Fi access to surf the Net and check e-mail for the next five years.

StarHub on Friday won a tender to provide the service, which kicked off on Jan 1, in the public and transit areas of all of Changi's terminals. These are Terminals 1, 2 and 3 and the Budget Terminal.

The free service can be accessed by anyone who has a compatible laptop PDA (personal digital assistant). With download speeds of up to 512 kilobits per second (Kbps), it is also fast enough for users to make free or cheap Net calls using online services like Skype.

The airport's offer is an extension of the free Wireless@SG hotspot service that covers many of Singapore's shopping centres and public areas.

Previously, StarHub ran a paid Wi-Fi service at Terminals 1 and 2 and charged users $6 for every half an hour. Only subscibers of StarHub or its partner QMax Communications could log on for free.

This irked many other users, who questioned why the airport was not covered under the free Wireless@SG project rolled out from Dec 2006.

Evenutally, a tender for free access at the airport was called by the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) in August last year. The tender, first reported by The Straits Times last year, drew bids from StarHub and SingTel.

On Friday, StarHub said it had won the tender with partner QMax to run the free service at the airport for the next five years.

Mr Anil Nihalani, StarHub's vice-president for mobile services, said it would benefit local users as well as travellers turning up at the airport.