DoT plans Wi-Fi hotspots for major Indian cities, tourist spots

The Department of Telecom (DoT) is working on a mechanism to provide Wi-Fi hot spots in cities with population of over 10 lakh and in tourist centres.   The DoT has held meetings recently with telecom operators for the scheme. It has not been decided if the service will be free or chargeable, sources said. “We are planning to provide Wi-Fi hot spots in cities with a population of over 1 million and in tourist centres. Meetings have been held with telcos regarding the same but we are yet to take a call if it will be a free or chargeable service,” the source added.   The scheme is part of the Digital India programme, which has been approved by the government. The programme comprises various projects worth about Rs. 1 lakh crore to transform the country into a digitally empowered knowledge economy.   The programme includes projects that aim to ensure that government services are available to citizens electronically and people get benefit of the latest information and communication technology. The programme will be implemented in phases from the current year till 2018.   The vision of government under Digital India project includes creation of ICT infrastructure like high speed Internet at gram panchayat level, on demand availability of government services like health, education etc., and digital empowerment of citizens specially through digital literacy.   The programme will be monitored by a committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) will accord approval for projects.   PTI