For those laptop-toting businesspeople expanding their business to Sydney, especially the Wellingtonians amongst you, you will quickly find that getting wireless internet access in Sydney is a chore. While cities such as Wellington have what I would consider to be an extensive wireless network in the form of CafeNet, Sydney has no such major provider.

Rather, there are a number of providers that are located sparingly across the CBD. As easily finding somewhere that provides wireless internet in the Sydney CBD is no easy task I recommend you take a look at the following:

Azure Wireless – While Azure appears to be cutting back their coverage in Sydney, they so have a number of places where you can browse the internet. I recommend you visit this page on their website, but suggest you visit the places recommended and ask them if their wifi is working before settling in.

Telstra – Telstra offers a comprehensive network of wireless hotspots, however be warned – the cost can add up quite quickly. A list of all hotspots was last sighted here.

Unwired – These guys also offer wireless internet, however it’s designed for those who have an Unwired Wireless Card. I would recommend this option if you are planning on spending a lot of browsing time on the go in Sydney.

Woolworths (opposite the town hall) – Go up the escalators in the middle of this store and you will find a small internet access area. You can prepay with some great rates here, and you simply sit down with your laptop in the allocated Wifi spot and get on with your business. It would be affordable to work here all day if you needed to, however I did have problems with sending e-mails using any SMTP server. Tech support was helpful but said I should be able to send through my own SMTP server, which I didn’t believe as I couldn’t get it working. This would certainly be the only downside of this option.

For initial advice in expanding your business to Sydney, we found New Zealand Trade and Enterprise provided a significant level of support. While expanding to any new market requires careful planning and research, knowing where to start can often be difficult. Check out the NZTE website at http://www.nzte.govt.nz/ for more information about their services. They produce a number of booklets on doing business in Australia.

Setting up our internet connection here in Sydney was not as straightforward as we would have liked. We found that while Telstra Cable was what we ideally wanted, it was not available in our building in the CBD. Optus was willing to give us limited service ADSL internet but it would take 2 weeks to be activated.

We decided to settle for the moment with Unwired wireless internet. This is a fantastic product, and more information can be found on http://www.unwired.com.au/

These wireless internet packs can be picked up at any Dick Smith in the CBD, once connected to your computer they can be activated online via credit card immediately with no phone queues. You are able to connect to the Unwired website using the wireless modem to review plans, etc, before signing up. We were online in minutes, and the software works on both Mac and PC, using either an ethernet or USB connection to your computer.

In our “Expansion to Australia” section, we will keep customers up to date on our growth into the Sydney market from little old NZ. Also, I hope it will provide some insight and usefulness to other businesses wishing to make the leap over to Australia. Watch this space.