Public Wi-Fi access will soon be easier to obtain in Beijing, China, where officials are planning a large-scale wireless network deployment in such public places as subway stops shopping plazas, Network World reported.

Mao Dongjun, a director at the Beijing Municipal Commission of Economy and Information Technology, told the news source that the project began last month, when the city's public service organization began deploying public Wi-Fi access in a few select districts. The organization is now expanding that project throughout a larger portion of the city.

According to Mao, many of the city's telecom organizations have made progress toward deploying Wi-Fi throughout the city, and the municipal organizations are now working towards cultural changes to encourage Wi-Fi. The utility organization is trying to get more citizens comfortable with using wireless networks outside of the home.

While public networks have significant potential for giving users broad access to wireless technology, a recent Wireless Broadband Alliance study found complex login procedures are slowing usage patterns for end users. Simplifying login processes could prove critical to the long-term success of public WLAN systems, ZDNet reported.