Plan afoot to make entire Delhi Wi-Fi
23 Jul 2007
NEW DELHI: Taking a cue from cities like Bangalore and Pune, the Delhi
government is planning a Wi-Fi future for the city. The city government's
information technology department is exploring options to ensure Delhiites
have wireless net access on laptops. Bangalore is already Wi-Fi enabled,
while Pune and Kolkata are on their way to attaining the status.
But Delhi may take a
march over other Indian cities as the government is looking at the
latest WiMax technology which ensures high-speed internet access
on the move.
The IT department will soon issue advertisements seeking expressions
of interest from infotech companies. It is currently busy doing
homework. This includes a "tentative" plan to make use
of the already existing broadband and GPRS networks of mobile service
providers to ensure complete wireless connectivity.
A senior IT department official said, "We are looking at a
model that integrates all the existing technologies like GPRS, Wi-Fi
and broadband. We are also looking at WiMax, which is the latest
in the field. The final decision will be taken on the basis of the
economics involved. But right now, our focus in on providing high-speed
internet connectivity to all in an unwired way. This will come at
a cost. But once the government enters the picture, the cost of
internet access for an individual will come down drastically."
Originally a brand name licensed by the company Wi Fi Alliance
to describe the embedded technology of wireless local area networks
(WLAN), the common use of the term Wi-Fi has now been broadened
to mean generic wireless interface of mobile computing devices like
laptops and palmtops. It is a short-range system covering many hundreds
of metres. It uses a licensed bandwidth to provide access to a network
— typically used by the end-user to access their own network,
which may or may not be connected to the net.
Source: The Times of India
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