Govt plans to offer free wi-fi in 2500 cities, towns in attempt to push internet

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.