Tech capital Bangalore finally got free wireless internet access in public places on Friday. 'Namma WiFi' is available at six places in the city. Users can access WiFi for a maximum of three hours or 50MB of data download at a speed of 512 kbps on M G Road, Brigade Road, C M H Road and at the TTMCs in Yeshwanthpur, Shanthinagar and Koramangala.
Plans are also afoot to scale it up to the entire city and to Tier-II cities like Mangalore, Hubli-Dharwad, Belgaum and Mysore.
Users will be given a one-time password (OTP) after authentication that will allow them to access the internet. A mobile app can also be downloaded from Google Play (only on Android phones) to access the internet at these WiFi spots.
There are 23 access points along M G Road and Brigade Road, allowing between 2,300-2,500 users to access WiFi at a time. There are a total of 28 access points in the other locations.
The facility is being provided free of cost by the service provider. "It will be free forever," said Ramesh Sathya of D-Vois Broadband Private Limited, the service provider. However, the company is chalking out a business plan that will ensure the service is self-sustainable.
"Bangalore, being the IT capital of the country, it has been a long-term dream for the government to provide free WiFi. This has been fulfilled today. The facility will provide internet access to all sections of society. We hope it will give a boost to e-commerce, easy access to government services and result in a surge in the growth of start-ups," said S R Patil, Minister for IT and BT, speaking at the launch of Namma WiFi. Various government services such as Sakaala, BWSSB and BangaloreOne can also be accessed, he said.
The facility has a lot of potential in traffic surveillance, parking and garbage management. "We are thinking about this and, after discussing with the departments concerned such as the traffic police and BBMP, we will create apps that will allow citizens to look at parking spaces available in these commercial hotspots or even integrate garbage management to the WiFi," said Ramesh Sathya.
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