To put Delhi at par with london, New York, Shanghai and Stockholm, the Arvind Kejriwal Government has consulted Google, Facebook, Cisco, Aruba, Ericsson, Vodafone and several other internet and telecom companies for its free Wi-Fi project in the national Capital. The tender document is ready. Delhi Cabinet is expected to clear the free Wi-Fi project by the third week of September.
Top sources said that Google, Facebook, Cisco, which is a global leader, Aruba, Ericsson, Vodafone, all of these companies, including many domestic firms, have shown interest in the Aam Admi Party Government’s pet project to provide free public Wi-Fi. Around 150 companies from around the world have expressed interest in the project.
According to sources if everything will be all right then global tender is likely to be floated by October. The Government has plans to make free Wi-Fi functional by February of next year.
On Friday, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal presided a high-level meeting on Wi-Fi project but had to leave half way, apparently because he had an appointment with the President. According to sources, half of the discussion has been finished and the remaining half will be done on Sunday afternoon. “The tender document is being finalised,” said the sources.
The plan to give free Wi-Fi access was among the original poll promises of the Kejriwal Government but the new plan is that the service will now be given on the basis of limited data usage, and not based on a time limit. Within the Wi-Fi service, browsing websites, social media, email and WhatsApp will remain free and users will only have to pay for watching videos, video chats and downloading content.
Officials said they will look to ensure a minimum internet speed of 512 kbps and the Government is considering fixing the data usage to 50 MB per day. Every day the system will be reset. Once the data limit of 50MB is exhausted, users can avail the service by paying for extra usage. User will have to pay for watching videos. Video chat and downloading content will be charged. As it is a public Wi-Fi, it will be available only at public places. Residential areas, green belts, farm belts and rural belts will not be covered.
The Information Technology department is in the process of identifying 1,000 places along with the Ground Water Survey and Development Agency for setting up hotspots in the first phase of implementation.