Come June, visitors of Khan Market will get free wi-fi service. The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) is all set to launch the facility first in Khan Market after which it plans to turn other markets like Connaught Place, Dilli Haat and Sarojini Nagar into wi-fi hotspots.
Nearly six months after the plan was conceived, the civic agency has decided to start the free wireless Internet service in one of its most expensive and upscale zone - Khan Market. “The area will be wi-fi enabled in nearly 15-20 days from now. Vodafone will be providing the service and it will be free. There will be some special offer for Vodafone customers. We have allowed them to do that for their promotional purpose,” said OP Mishra, Director (Project), NDMC. The internet speed would be around 5 mbps and the bandwidth will be set only after a month of observation.
After Khan Market, the NDMC has identified five more zones which would be turned into wi-fi hotspots. These include CP, Sarojini Nagar, Dilli Haat, a portion of INA Market and Janpath. The NDMC chairman will convene a meeting in this regard with the association of mobile operators on Thursday, said sources. “The markets will be the first ones to get the service, but within a few months every residential area in NDMC will be wi-fi enabled. However, surfing shall not be free then,” an official said, adding that in Khan Market charges will be levied after a nearly a month.
Unlike its original plan, the wi-fi service in Khan Market won’t have antennas installed at street lights. “Khan Market will have a different system wherein the company will install around 20 wireless switches. The streetlight concept is being considered for other areas. We want to rope in several companies rather than letting monopoly of a single company,” said an official. As an alternate option, the agency intends to use streetlight poles to install wi-fi antennas. These lights will also have energy-saving lED bulbs. On these poles, CCTV cameras will be installed to make the area secure.
“The facility is being initiated for business, emergency and tourism. Most of our areas have large floating population who are below the age of 30 who are very internet savvy. This is surely going to help us promote our area,” said Mishra. The initial plan included that the Wi-Fi service would allow everyone to search, download and use Internet for free for up to 15 minutes. However, nominal charges will be applied after that time period. The project is being implemented on the lines of a similar project in Bangalore.