The Hindu 06.01.2015
Major city centres to go Wi-Fi in April
Ten major city centres will have public Wi-Fi shortly.
Kochi
Corporation, in association with the public sector telecom company,
BSNL, will offer the facility at Fort Kochi, Mattanchery, Marine Drive,
High Court, Subash Park, Main Office of the Kochi Corporation, Jos
Junction, Vyttila Mobility Hub, Edappally Junction and Kaloor in the
first phase. The facility will be available free for 15 minutes a day
for one month.
The free offer will be extended depending on the traffic and demand of the customers.
The
telecom company will create 10 access points for extending the service.
For availing of the facility, one needs to create a password and user
ID using a valid mobile phone number, said G. Muralidharan, Principal
General Manager, BSNL, Ernakulam.
Though the tariff
for using the facility has not been finalised, it will come cheap. It
will cost at least by 30 per cent less than the internet charges levied
for wired connections and mobile phones, he said.
The scheme is part of the efforts of the Kochi Corporation to make Kochi a Wi-Fi city, said Mayor Tony Chammany.
The infrastructure facilities of the Kochi Corporation will be made available for the telecom company for the purpose.
According
to the BSNL official, Wi-Fi will be available at a radius of 300 metres
from the access points and a bandwidth 10 Mbps will be available for
the customers. Customers can use the facility by top up coupons or by
online purchases.
The Wi-Fi zones will become fully operational by March. The general public can access the facility from April, he said.
The
towers for offering the facility will be placed at a height of around
10 metres and there would not be any radiation hazards, he said.
Mr.
Chammany claimed that Kochi was the first city to provide Wi-Fi
facility over a larger area. The proposal will be placed before the
Kochi Corporation Council for approval.
Deputy Mayor B. Bhadra and senior officials of the Kochi Corporation were also present at the press conference.
The facility will be available free for 15 minutes a day for one month and will be extended depending on the demand.
