Mumbai beats Delhi, Bengaluru to become the Wi-Fi city of India
- The first phase of Wi-Fi services announced for Mumbai.
- It is the biggest project ever to offer free Wi-Fi to citizens.
- During the testing, 23000 users had signed up and used 2TB of data from 2 to 8 January.
FollowMumbai to beat national capital Delhi and probably the IT Hub Bengaluru to become the first Wi-Fi city of India. After conducting a testing phase from 2 January to 8 January and consuming 2TB of data, state-owned Maharashtra Information Technology Corporation will be implementing 500 hotspots across the city, says a DNA report.
HP will setup the Wi-Fi access points while MTNL will be the bandwidth provider for this project. The aim is to bring 1200 Wi-Fi hotspots by May this year.
Last year, we saw city's surveillance project that introduced 2000 surveillance poles in Mumbai, and the infrastructure is now being used to offer free Wi-Fi services. Until the end of this month, there won't be any limit on the data usage or usage time. Mumbaikars can look for the Wi-Fi points on the Aaple Sarkar portal and can also send feedback on the service to @As_Mum_WiFi.
It is said to be the largest public Wi-Fi implementation in India. Previously, in Delhi, the AAP government had promised 100 per cent WiFi coverage in the national capital. That dream hasn't turned into reality yet. This implementation could put Mumbai ahead of Delhi and even Bengaluru. Now, Bengaluru was the first city to get free Wi-Fi hotspots, announced back in 2014. But, there hasn't been a big movement from the government on this front.
However, Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) has recently set Wi-Fi targets with plans to equip over 17,000 buses and 450 major bus stands across the state with the necessary infrastructure, points out Bangalore Mirror. This post the free Wi-Fi on trial basis in 20 major bus stands.
KSRTC aims to take the Digital India program beyond urban cities and has also invited tenders for implementing Wi-Fi services for 458 bus stations and 18,704 buses. Meanwhile, the Maharashtra government is ready to get the ball rolling with the latest announcement of free public Wi-Fi hotspots.
