The Indian government will soon offer
free high-speed wi-fi in 2,500 cities and towns across the country over
the next three years. The programme will involve an investment of up to
Rs 7,000 crore and will be implemented by BSNL.
A report in the Times
of India points out that the free ride will however, only be
available for a limited period of time and after which, one would have to pay
to access the internet further, a model similar to what is being offered at
airports and other places by private operators. For BSNL and MTNL
users, the switch-over to wi-fi will be similar to roaming once the free
usage is over, though it will be at a very nominal cost.
The move is in line with PM Modi
government’s ambitious ‘Digital India’ programme which focuses to improve
internet connectivity all over India. BSNL is hoping that a favourable
tariff plan offered for wi-fi services will help it gain mobile
subscribers. A few months ago, BSNL and MTNL were also aiming for better
mobile coverage of their mobile services by adding about 28,300
new mobile sites.
Anupam Shrivastava, BSNL Chairman and MD
told Times
of India that, the services will begin in the next financial
year (2015-16) and they plan to offer these to subscribers of all mobile
operators.
According to a report by Light
Reading, Niue in New Zealand is the first island country to
have free nation-wide WiFi Internet access service. The free wireless
service which can be accessed by all Niue residents, tourists, government
offices and business travelers, is being provided at no cost to the public or
local government.
This proves how the Government themselves
wants the country to have Internet in an attempt to push industrial growth. BBC points
out that virtually the entire city of London has free public wi-fi
coverage. Swindon in UK is the first wi-fi covered town. In
2005, Sunnyvale, California became the first city in the United States to offer
city-wide free wi-fi.
In India, through the ‘Digital India’
platform, Indian Government makes an attempt to offer internet to rural part of
the country.
Earlier, BSNL had announced free data
usage on Micromax smartphones. Under the partnership, BSNL
would bundle free data usage of up to 2GB per quarter for 12 months on
smartphones, free voice calls (on net) on feature phones and other freebies on
purchase of Micromax tablet and data cards.
The Government also wants to provide free
Internet-enabled phones to 25 million rural houses, according to this report.
With a one-time fee of Rs 300, the government will provide a phone and a
connection by BSNL to those who sign up for the scheme.
