In India,
efforts are being made to get the country online and make it Internet friendly.
Be it the government’s ‘Digital India’ initiative or ‘Smart City’ project,
extending the reach of digital access is what the authorities are aiming for. A
number of companies and institutions too are coming together for this purpose.
As per a 2016
report, most of the public Wi-Fi hotspots
are found in various places:
·
58
percent found in retail outlets, shopping malls, coffee shops, and restaurants
·
41
percent found in hotels
·
0.5
percent found in railway stations and airports
As a part of the
Digital India initiative, a number of projects have been undertaken. Some of
them are:
·
Google-railway hotspots
Google and
Railtel have started on a project, which is termed as the fastest and biggest
Wi-Fi project in the world. This project started after Indian Railways
announced its partnership with Google in September 2015. As per this project,
Google has set up hotspots over 115
stations in the country. This includes the stations of Mumbai Central,
Bengaluru, Bhubaneshwar, Kanpur, Varanasi, Bareilly, Howrah, Mathura, and
Aligarh, among others. This project uses Google’s Fiber technology, which can
carry data at a speed of 1 Gbps.
·
Indian Railways kiosks
Indian Railways
has decided to set kiosks at around 500 stations for better connectivity in
remote areas. These kiosks will have Wi-Fi access and let people use services
like online banking, online shopping, booking e-tickets for trains and buses,
insurance schemes, government schemes, and more.
·
Mumbai Wi-Fi
In the beginning
of 2017, public hotspots were set up
across Mumbai by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). The service is
free up to a 100 MBs, following which users will be charged. These Wi-Fi hotspots were set up across 500
locations, which include railway stations, educational institutes, important
junctions, as well as tourist spots. The Wi-Fi name is Aaple_Sarkar_Mum-Wifi
and its locations are uploaded on the Aaple Sarkar government portal. Users
will have to use their mobile numbers to complete the log in process. Post
that, they will receive a One-Time Password (OTP), which when filled will give
access to the Internet.
·
Facebook and BSNL
Facebook Inc. in
cooperation with the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL) planned to set up public
Wi-Fi hotspots in rural areas across
the country with an aim to attract new users and introduce the world of
high-speed Internet to them.
With high-speed
Internet coming across to the masses, people will reap several benefits. Some
of these are:
1. Widespread education
With free
Internet, users get access to a huge chunk of educational material. They may
educate themselves online via different courses, read books, refer journals,
and seek knowledge from the experts. A number of people may gain knowledge and
develop skills via correspondence from some of the best institutions in the
country.
2. Shopping on
the go
With everything
going online, businesses won’t lag behind. Online selling widely increases a
supplier’s reach across geographical areas. It also helps buyers choose
whatever they need at any time and from anywhere. So, there is no need to keep
aside time just for shopping.
3. Paperless
economy
As people start
making transactions online, booking e-tickets, paying insurance premiums, and a
whole lot more; the reliance on paper for all of these purposes is going to
reduce. This will give a boost to transparent, paperless economy. This is also
good for the environment as it lessens the number of trees being cut to make
paper for the above.
With the ongoing
development of the 4G networks and technologies, it is
certain that these Wi-Fi hotspots would provide
a host of opportunities to the general public and drive the country’s progress.
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