You won't need to recharge data for your device the next time you visit Hyderabad, as Telangana government is planning to provide free internet throughout the city. The state has launched its ambitious 'Hyderabad City Wi-Fi' project with an aim to provide free Wi-Fi to the public by installing the network at about 3,000 hotspots over the next few months.
Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) Mayor B Rammohan launched the 'Hyderabad City Wi-Fi' project on Tuesday. He said that free Wi-Fi would be initially made available at 1,000 hotspots before adding an additional 2,000 sites in the next three months.
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The project promises 5-10 Mbps bandwidth free internet for 30 minutes per device and it will cost around Rs 300 crore, which will be invested by the industry. The Telangana government has collaborated with Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) to make this ambitious project a reality.
The Telangana government decided to expand the 'Hyderabad City Wi-Fi' project to over 3,000 locations across Hyderabad following the success of 'Digital Telangana' that was launched in 2015. Telangana IT Secretary Jayesh Ranjan said that project would be expanded to other regions like Warangal, Karimnagar and Khammam districts.
"We will stabilise it first in Hyderabad and based on how it is working, we will extend it to three other districts," Ranjan told PTI.
But how will the government solve misuse and security issues that could come with free Wi-Fi project?
"There is security apparatus and there are some empanelled companies which provide security coverage against unauthorised usage of wi-fi. We will be talking to them and work on how the whole city can be covered," said Ranjan.
Hyderabad is not the first though
It may be mentioned that Bangalore, now Bengaluru, became the first city in India to provide free Wi-Fi spots in select areas in 2014. Karnataka government had said earlier this year that all 198 BBMP wards of the city would be covered under Wi-Fi zone with a minimum bandwidth of 2 Mbps.
Maharashtra government launched 500 free Wi-Fi (up to at 500 100MB) hotspots in Mumbai earlier this year and promised 1,200 more Wi-Fi hotspots in the following months.
