The ICC World T20 2016 commences March 8 in India for the first time and spectators have a lot more than the cricket buzz to look forward to. Reliance Jio Infocomm is offering high-speed, high-density Wi-Fi connectivity to thousands of spectators for free in jam-packed stadiums, where network congestion issues are very common.
Jionet high-speed Wi-Fi connectivity would be available at six main stadiums with a minimum seating capacity of 23,000 and up to 68,000 people. Reliance Jio deployed a specially designed state-of-the-art Wi-Fi access points (APs) in all stadiums across India to avoid congestion and overlapping of radio channels between its own APs.
"Jionet has embarked on this huge project as a part of revolutionising how spectators experience the games, as they are commonly faced with issues regarding connectivity," the company said in a statement on Monday. "Mobile networks aren't able to handle such large data traffic and Jionet will change this – the connectivity will not only be adequate but will actually be many times faster than experienced before. As a result of which, spectators will be able to share their story ball by ball, connect with their friends and family, surf, stay connected on social networking sites, and more."
Reliance Jio's Jionet Wi-Fi service would be available in the following stadiums:
- M. Chinnaswamy Stadium (Bangalore)
- Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium (Dharmashala)
- Eden Gardens (Kolkata)
- Punjab Cricket Association Stadium (Mohali)
- Feroz Shah Kotla (New Delhi)
- Wankhede Stadium (Mumbai)
An average of 600 access points have been installed in each of the above mentioned stadiums, while Eden Gardens got the maximum number of APs, about 1,100, due to its capacity. Jionet is supported by 100Gbps backhaul to deliver a speed of around 15Mbps for over 40,000 spectators during the matches. A Reliance Jio official confirmed to the Economic Times that 37 small cell antennas for better coverage at the venues.
How to connect to Jionet Wi-Fi in stadiums during matches?
Step 1: Turn on Wi-Fi on smartphone, tablet or laptop.
Step 2: Choose "Jionet" open network from the list of available networks.
Step 3: Launch web browser on the device and go to "jionet.jio.in" or navigate to any website to get the Login Page
Step 4: Register with your mobile number and request for a verification code.
Step 5: Use the verification code, which would be sent through SMS to the registered phone number, and tap "Verify" to get internet access.
It is worth noting that if there is no internet activity on your connected device for 30 minutes, the system will automatically log out. Users can login with the same verification code to continue browsing. The code would be valid only for 24 hours, post which a fresh code can be requested.
