New Delhi:EROS TIMES: Eleven thousand Wi-Fi hotspots are to be installed across Delhi as part of a free Wi-Fi scheme, announced Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal at a press conference held at Delhi Secretariat on Wednesday.
Kejriwal said the free Wi-Fi scheme was one of the most significant poll promises of the election manifesto.
“All the promises of the manifesto will be fulfilled after the implementation of this scheme”, said the Chief Minister.
Addressing the media, Kejriwal said, “Providing free Wi-Fi facility to the people of Delhi was an essential promise of our manifesto. Minimum internet connectivity and minimum data usage have become a requisite for the people in this digital age.
Considering the importance of internet in our daily lives, the Delhi government has decided to provide free internet on the same lines of providing basic lifeline amenities like 200 units of free electricity and 20,000 liters of free water to the residents of Delhi.”
100 initial hotspots connections to be inaugurated on December 16; every constituency to get 100 hotspots connections
Out of the total 11,000 hotspots to be installed across the city, 4000 hotspots will be installed at the bus stands.
The remaining 7000 hotpots will be installed across the marketplaces and RWAs in Delhi, with each constituency entailing 100 hotspots. CM Arvind Kejriwal said, “The work order has been passed, the work of installation is already in progress and the inaugural ceremony of the first 100 hotspots will be held on December 16 (list of the locations enclosed).
The total expenditure on the installation scheme will be around Rs. 100 crores. The scheme will operate as per a standard rent model, the Delhi government will be paying rent every month to the company for each hotspot installed. After the completion of the installation of the initial 100 hotpots, 500 hotpots will be installed every week.”
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal added that the Delhi government has devised a plan to integrate the CCTV cameras with the Wi-Fi hotpots installed in the city, and the responsibility of the maintenance of the equipment is with the Delhi government.
Wi-Fi hotpots connections to support 22 lakh users simultaneously
Briefing the media about the details of the Wi-Fi installations, CM Arvind Kejriwal said, “The people of Delhi will be able to locate a Wi-Fi connection after every 500 meters in the city, with the hotpot connections supporting a radius of 100 meters. Every user will be given a free data limit of 15 GB data per month, with a data limit of 1.5 GB data per day.
On an average, the maximum speed of the connection of the data will be 200 Mbps, but the estimated speed will be between 100-150 Mbps. Each hotpot will be able to support 150-200 users simultaneously, which amounts to around 22 lakh users simultaneously accessing the internet across the city.
An app has also been created for this purpose, which will require the users to fill their KYC details and use the OTPs received on their phones to access the hotpot connections.
The Wi-Fi connections will not get disconnected if a user enters into one hotspot zone into another, and the connection will be automatically regained. Further installation of more hotspot connections across the remaining areas of the city will be determined on the basis of the experience and the success of these 11000 hotspot connections.”
First government in Delhi to fulfill all manifesto promises
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that his government is the first government in Delhi to have fulfilled all the key poll promises of the election manifesto.”Providing free Wi-Fi connection to the people is the last promise of our manifesto, and I believe this is the first and the only government in Delhi to have fulfilled all the promises it has made in the manifesto.
Free Wi-Fi and internet connection will help students to a huge extent and will be beneficial in the sectors of health and education.
The amount of data and information available on the internet today will be a huge advantage to all the sectors,” added the CM.
Timeline of the installation of Wi-Fi hotspots connections
For providing free internet to the city by installing 11,000 Wi-Fi hotpots across the national capital, the government has set September 2020 to be the deadline
2015-16: Internet and telecom companies were approached, and a high-level feasibility study has been conducted in consultation
March 2016, it started the first free Wi-Fi facility on a pilot basis for three months at Sant Nagar market in Burari area of north Delhi, where users were told that they would be able to download 50 MB of data per day free of cost.
2016-17: Different technical, financial and organizational models were piloted. This was done with the intention to structure the best quality Wi-Fi to consumers and at the least cost to the exchequer.
GNCTD explored the possibility of a model in which hotspots would be created across the city to provide citizens the access to free Wi-Fi.
2017-18: Information Technology Department of GNCTD in process of issuing the request for proposals (RFP) for feasibility study and had set March 2018 as the expected date for commissioning of Wi-Fi hotspots at the pilot stage.
The AamAadmi Party government considered three models: Wireless Internet Hotspots, Fibre Cables and Internet Vouchers.
The purview of the project transferred from the Department of IT to PWD. Initially, the PWD had said that it would not be able to execute the project because of “lack of expertise” and “scarcity of staff”. Later, the department agreed to implement the plan.
The budget speech by Hon’ble Dy. CM for 2018-19 in the month of February 2018, proposed an outlay of ₹ 100 crores for Wi-Fi project in 2018-19
September 2018: ACS (PWD) called the meeting to finalize basic decisions on Wi-Fi on 18th September 2018. The representatives from IT telecom companies, Delhi Police, Department of UD & other technical experts attended the meeting.
2019-20: The budget provision of Rs. 150 crores have already been kept in the current financial year for the said work. The year-wise budget requirement shall be as below:
2019-20 Rs.24.87 Cr.
2020-21 Rs.74.63 Cr.