Premier Denis Napthine said a $6.7 million pilot program, to be delivered by iiNet, had begun with the program to provide Wi-Fi at 1000 spots in Melbourne, Bendigo and Ballarat by 2015.

The pilot program will last five years, be advertisement free and require no password to use.

But Dr Napthine would not rule out advertising on the service in the future.

"It will help to improve the tourism experience, draw more digital entrepreneurs to Victoria, support small businesses and education sector and provide additional communications support during emergencies," he said.

The state's move to offer free Wi-Fi to visitors and residents while out and about has been mooted for a while. In March, the government sought expressions of interest to provide free public Wi-Fi in Melbourne.

The city's entry to the free connectivity club comes after Perth, Adelaide, Canberra and Liverpool in NSW have established their own networks.

The service is almost a given in major cities around the world, although offers vary from free to advertising-sponsored to available to subscribers of a particular provider. New York even offers connectivity in its subway network thanks to Australian technology.

Telstra and Optus are also seeking to establish city Wi-Fi models, with Telstra embarking on a $100 million program to establish 2 million hotspots nationally and Optus seeking to partner with some cities.