IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

Good news for netizens of Smart City Bhubaneswar as free Wi-Fi services will soon be made available across the city covering major streets, institutions and landmarks.

Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs Secretary Durga Shanker Mishra said this on his Twitter handle today.

“Bhubaneswar Smart City will soon have free Wi-Fi services across major streets, institutions & landmarks. This will surely be a step towards creating a connected city and bridge the digital divide amongst citizens,” Mishra tweeted.

Smart City Bhubaneswar will soon be made available free Wi-Fi services across the city covering major streets, institutions and landmarks.

According to reports, the Bhubaneswar Smart City Limited (BSCL) has made 1350 internet access points operational in the State Capital.

After Bangalore became the first Indian city to offer free public internet in January, Delhi has found itself under sharp criticism from web users and IT enthusiasts. In the capital, there are some web access points in malls and at the airport but they are problematic. Even in coffeehouse chains which lure customers with free internet, the service is often unavailable and usually not reliable. And there are still no definite plans to establish hotspots similar to those in Karnataka.

The two other locations where the WiFi zones were established are Jammu railway station and the main bus stand, the official said.

In a bid to facilitate Amarnath pilgrims to stay connected with their families back home, the Jammu Smart City Limited (JSCL) on Saturday set up WiFi zones at three vital locations including the base camp Bhagwati Nagar here, an official said.

The Punjab Safe Cities Authority (PSCA) has significantly broadened its public Wi-Fi initiative, doubling its footprint across the province to improve digital accessibility.

Officials from the PSCA confirmed that the number of free Wi-Fi access points in Lahore has been increased from 230 to 430. Additionally, the service has now expanded from 11 to 22 districts, including Kasur, Nankana Sahib, Sheikhupura, Sialkot, Gujrat, Jhelum, Attock, Hasan Abdal, Sahiwal, Okara, and Murree.

The Wi-Fi zones, called Amma Wi-Fi Zone, will be provided in 50 locations

The Tamil Nadu government will offer free Wi-Fi facilities in large public spaces and schools, establish entrepreneur development centres and create e-commerce infrastructure, according to an official press release.

The Wi-Fi zones, called Amma Wi-Fi Zone, will be provided in 50 locations such as large bus terminuses, parks and other public spaces. Free internet facilities will be provided initially in 50 schools at a cost of Rs. 10 crore and funds will be allocated for the annual expenditure of Rs. 1.5 crore to maintain the facilities. This is in line with the State government’s announcement to provide internet facilities in high schools and colleges, the release said. A 50-seat entrepreneurship development centre will be set up in Coimbatore in a rented facility at Tidel Park. The IT industry body Nasscom will be a knowledge partner for the centre. More such facilities are planned in tier II towns.

Chennaiites can now freely access Wi-Fi internet services at 49 locations where smart poles have been installed as part of the Smart City project, the Greater Chennai Corporation announced on Tuesday.

An official release from the Corporation said that the public would be allowed to access free net for 30 minutes at a speed of 2 Mbps after logging in using their mobile number and entering the OTP sent on their phones.

In 2009, Chennai-based Zylog Systems was selected to launch the project aimed at making the heritage building wire free and also to provide easy and faster internet access for civic officials. Nodes and antennae were installed but nothing has been done since then.

The Greater Chennai Corporation, as a part of the Singara Chennai 2.0 initiative, has decided to build smart public toilets in 62 locations across Chennai.

According to a Chennai Corporation official, the proposed smart toilets will have facilities, including Wi-Fi, potable water, ATMs nearby, sanitary pad vending machines, solar photovoltaic rooftop panels, and commercial spaces for advertising.

The free Wi-Fi in the seating space of the upcoming food street in Anna Nagar would benefit patrons.

The plan to provide free Wi-Fi spots in busy public places in the city is yet to see the light of the day even though the Tiruchy corporation considered a few locations in August 2023. The corporation move was in response to the 2023-24 state government budget proposal to provide free Wi-Fi spots in cities like Tiruchy.

Karimnagar Collector advised job aspirants to utilize Vaaradhi mobile app launched by Minister KT Rama Rao

Collector RV Karnan said free Wi-Fi facility would be provided in the district library for the convenience of students and job aspirants preparing for various competitive examinations.

As part of Karimnagar Smart City programme, Wi-Fi facility would be provided by the Municipal Corporation of Karimnagar. The Collector on Tuesday visited the district library. Interacting with job aspirants preparing for various competitive examinations, he advised them to utilize Vaaradhi mobile app launched by the IT and Municipal Administration Minister KT Rama Rao.

Wi-SUN (Wireless Smart Ubiquitous Networks) is an open-standards-based technology designed to meet the needs of smart-city operations. Despite slower communication speeds than Wi-Fi, it outperforms the latter in terms of longer reachability, stable connection in the face of obstacles, and lower power consumption

The Smart City Living Lab at the International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), Hyderabad has collaborated with one of its corporate partners Silicon Labs to launch a campus-wide Wi-SUN network to enable research and solutions for IoT-based smart cities. This is the first of its kind in India.

It is part of the ongoing smart city project of providing better services to the people.

Inspired by New York City’s ‘Link NYC’ infrastructure project to offer free wi-fi services, the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has installed and set up two ‘NDMC Link’ digital interactive panels at Connaught Place. It is part of the ongoing smart city project of providing better services to the people.

Dehradun municipal corporation has converted its premises into a free Wi-Fi zone from Friday to get a step closer to e-governance, a mandate of smart city.

Anyone can walk into the corporation office, next to Doon hospital, and use 4G internet services. The service does not ask for a user ID log in or password. It provides unlimited internet access round the clock.

Commissioner of Dehradun municipal corporation, Nitin Bhadouria, has tagged it as a major step towards helping locals get familiar with digital functions of the corporation and to get them onboard with the concept of e-governance.

The New Town Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA) is setting up a smart plaza off the main arterial road close to Biswa Bangla Gate at Narkelbagan More. A garden is being developed that will have features like laptop tables and benches for people to work in an open air, Wi-Fi facilities and gazebos.

Officials said that the smart plaza is being developed from where the smart street ends. “The idea behind the place is that people can spend quality leisure time and can also do their work in the open air without the need to confine themselves inside houses. The initiative is a part of developing New Town as a green smart city,” said Jan official.

Sourav Chakraborty, the SJDA chairman, said that a couple of months back an agency of experts was engaged to draw up the plan The Siliguri Jalpaiguri Development Authority has prepared a development plan for Siliguri and its surrounding areas for comprehensive infrastructural development in and around the city. Sourav Chakraborty, the SJDA chairman, said that a couple of months back an agency of experts was engaged to draw up the plan.

It costs about Rs 5 lakh to set up the KioskNet kit, including the internet connectivity. The village youth club will take on the monthly expenses of Rs 20,000, which includes salaries for the resource persons manning the kiosks. With paddy fields and grazing cattle as a backdrop, two computer kiosks have been set up in two ends of the village. “We will train some resource persons, such as graduates in the village, to teach the children and adults,’’ said Sreenath Ramki, a student volunteer. A small group of students of IIT-Madras, activists who are part of the India Village Liberation (IViL) movement and Prof S Keshav, who heads the department of computer science, University of Waterloo, Canada, are behind this initiative.

"Dal Lake, Gulmargh, Leh and Pahalgam - the paradises for the tourists- will be among seven tourist zones to have state-of-the-art WiFi connectivity for the foreign and domestic tourists soon", an officer of the Information Technology department told PTI here.