NEW DELHI: IT superpower India ranks at the bottom in the world Wi-Fi index with only 454 public Wi-Fi hotspots. US leads the Wi-Fi hotspot index with 64,670 public hotspots followed by UK (30,613), Germany (21,236) and France (22,799) hotspots. Significantly, all nine of the top 10 Wi-Fi countries also rank in the top 30 in the 2007 UN Human Development Index.
Realising the same, the Delhi government has finalised seven bidders to set up four Wi-Fi hotspots in the national capital. In Delhi, players like Net4 India, Spectranet, Tulip IT Services, MTNL, Microsense have emerged as the front runners to set up Wi-Fi zones in Nehru Place, South Extension and Connaught Place.
Wireless-Fidelity (Wi-Fi) is a technology which allows wireless internet access through laptop, mobile or palmtop or PC. Interestingly, while Delhi makes a start with four public Wi-Fi spots, other metropolises like New York and London have already become the Wi-Fi capitals with 3,483 and 3,195 public Wi-Fi spots, respectively, according to JiWire, a public Wi-Fi registry.
The Delhi government plans to extend Wi-Fi to most areas in Delhi before the Commonwealth Games 2010. According to sources, the usage of Wi-Fi for an initial few minutes will be free of charge followed by attractive schemes for longer usage for both citizens and tourists.
The reason for low Wi-Fi penetration in India is the high cost of laptops (compared to per capita income), low internet penetration and lack of e-governance services in many states.
The initiatives such as `unwire’ Pune and Delhi to make main areas in these cities Wi-Fi enabled for citizens will increase broadband penetration and lead India faster towards wireless internet adoption. India’s technology state Karnataka has about 300 public Wi-Fi hotspots compared to California with 10,700 Wi-Fi spots and Florida which has 4,098 hotspots.
London beats most European capitals (except Berlin) with 3,195 Wi-Fi hotspots. Even small counties and twins in England like Norwich and Newcastle Upon Tyne have over 200 Wi-Fi hotspots. Germans however seem to be most tech savvy with the states of Baden-Wurttemberg (2,353 hotspots) and Nordrhein-Westfalen (4,229 hot spots). The states however have a population much less than Delhi’s population of over 13 million. India, on a whole has about 454 WiFi hotspots, according to Jiwire, a Wi-Fi registry.
All 24 Wi-Fi networks in Delhi are located inside cafes, hospitals or luxury hotels. The only residential colony Wi-Fi hotspot in New Delhi is located in Sujan Singh Park Area in Lutyens Delhi. Currently, all Café Coffee Day outlets in Kamla Nagar, South Delhi and Barista Espresso Bars in Connaught Place, Janak Puri and South Delhi are Wi-Fi enabled.
All Delhi Wi-Fi spots are working on 802.11g Wi-Fi technology - standard for local wireless networks. But the Wi-Fi technology offers internet access only when you are stationary in a network. On the other hand, the advanced 802.16e standard of WiMax offers internet access from your laptop on the move.
On the other hand, Bangalore has over 253 Wi-Fi hotspots, including all Café Coffee Day, Sify I-way and Casa Picola outlets, Whitefield, Luncheon Café Iceware and Freeware, at JP Nagar and Brigade Road are free Wi-Fi zones. Many roads and public parks near Airport Road, WhiteField and Brigade Road are also WiFi enabled.
Pune has about 16 public Wi-Fi zones. The airport is however fully Wi-Fi enabled. The PMC (Pune Municipal Corp) and Microsense have tied up to roll out India’s first city-wide WiMax network spanning a 25 kms radius. It will offer speed of 256 kbps at the rate of only Rs 250 per month.
Mumbai has about 29 hotspots, mostly in coffee bars and luxury hotels and Hyderabad has nine of them. Other Asian cities have already taken a lead with Taipei, Seoul and Tokyo having 2,751, 2,500 and 2.370 Wi-Fi hotspots.
Source : economictimes.com
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