Bangalore to get free free Wi-Fi hot spots

Bangalore is to get free Wi-Fi hot spots, becoming the first in the country to have one. The shopping destinations, MG Road and Brigade Road will have free Wi-Fi access as part of a plan to make Bangalore the first city to have such a service available at public spots.

This is on a pilot service plan and will be available for at least six months, following which the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) panel will evaluate the network and announce possible expansion plans. The plan is mooted by the government-appointed panel headed by Mohandas Pai, a former director at Infosys.

"A smartphone revolution is happening in India, but connectivity is still an issue here. We wanted to provide seamless internet access to people," said Pai, who is also the chairman of the Manipal Global Education. The decision to offer free wireless broadband access was taken last year and the recommendations of the ICT group were sent to Karnataka's chief minister in January. Bangalore-based internet service provider D-VoiS has been assigned to implement the pilot free of charge. "Once the pilot finishes, we will talk to other private ISPs and figure out a revenue-sharing model," Pai said.

Access to broadband internet free of charge at public spots will benefit hundreds of thousands of people who browse the web through mobile phones, laptops and tablets. The Internet and Mobile Association of India expects the country to have about 165 million mobile internet users by 2015