The Terengganu government will provide free WiFi service throughout the state from next year, especially at public places, at an estimated cost of RM30 million.

Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Said said the facility was now a necessity as all levels of society were using it to ease their various daily activities and dealings.

"For a start, we will focus on public areas and we target the free WiFi access to cover the whole state by the end of next year," he told reporters after tabling the state's 2014 budget on Monday.

To generate various information communication technology (ICT) initiatives, he said a sum of RM4 million had been allocated for next year, including for the building of three telecommunication towers at a cost of RM2.5 million.

"The state government has also allocated RM3.6 million to further boost the use of the smart community centres which are visited by about 100,000 people each year," he said.