Delhites to Enjoy Free Wi-Fi from December 16, asserts CM Arvind Kejriwal

New Delhi: In another major move in making Delhi technologically more advanced, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday said that the national capital will get free public Wi-Fi from the next month.

Under this project, 11,000 hotspots will be installed across all the public places in Delhi, including 4,000 hotspots in bus stops and 7000 at the markets. The CM informed that each hotspot will cover a radius of 100 metres and up to 200 people will be able to access the internet simultaneously at each point.

CM Kejriwal said that the project will be inaugurated on December 16 with the first batch of 100 hotspots. He also assured that the project would be completed within 6 months as 500 hotspots would be installed every week post-inauguration. After the execution of this public-private partnership (PPP) project, the residents of Delhi will get free 15 GB data per month through a hotspot network across the city.

Users will be able to access the free Wi-Fi by mere two taps on their smartphones. Upon selecting the network name and entering the mobile number, the user will receive an OTP (One Time Password), which will be the gateway to free internet usage.

This free internet project was one of Kejriwal’s poll planks during the 2015 state assembly election. As the capital goes to poll in another two months, he made this announcement before the end of the tenure of the sixth assembly.

CM Kejriwal said that the government will spend an estimate of Rs. 100 crore and will pay charges to the partnering companies per hotspot on per month basis. With plans like free metro service for women to free electricity, the Delhi government has spent more than Rs 1,000 crore in a gap of 30 days. The CAG said that splurging such a big amount is against the financial rules.

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