Bangalore gets free Wi-fi service

Bangalore has become the first city in the country to provide free Wi-fi services to the people. The "Namma Wifi” service launched here on Friday can now be accessed at five different locations. In the next two months, it will be extended to 10 other areas. M G Road, Brigade Road, bus stations at Yeshwanthpur, Shanthinagar and Koramangala and CMH Road in Indiranagar are the five locations where the service can be accessed. There are 23 access points within the coverage area. Anyone who wants to use the service needs to register with a mobile phone number, after which a password will be sent to the person. Private broadband service provider D-Vois is providing the service for free in association with the Department of Information Technology, Biotechnology and Science and Technology. "Bangalore is in fact not only the first city in India but in Asia to provide the service. As many as 2,500 people will be able to use the services from these locations at one time,” said Srivatsa Krishna, secretary, Department of IT, BT, S&T. He was speaking at a programme to officially launch the service. Krishna added that cities like Mysore, Hubli and Dharwad will also be provided with the free Wi-fi service, though he did not specify the exact time frame. "Fibre optics has been used to provide the service in the five locations. We need to put in place similar infrastructure, in order to start the service in other cities. This will take some time,” said Krishna. DHNS