Hyderabad goes wi-fi in Digital India push

NEW DELHI: Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad today rolled out a wi-fi service in Hyderabad, which has become the first city in the south zone to sport a BSNL wi-fi.

The wi-fi hotspots will initially cover 30 places in the city, but in 2-3 years, will be available across all other major cities of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

BSNL plans to commit about Rs 500 crore for the service in the region.

"The Prime Minister has said India should be digitally empowered and for this purpose, I seek the state governments' cooperation in realising PM's dream," Prasad told reporters here.

The minister added that the next wi-fi destination will be Taj Mahal.

"We are planning to invest Rs 7,000 crore over 2-3 years to provide wi-fi services in major cities and tourist destinations across the country," BSNL CMD Anupam Srivastava said.

The state-owned company will be providing free wi-fi service for the first 30 minutes in a day for maximum three occasions in a month for the same mobile number.

After free usage, a customer can pay Rs 30, Rs 50, Rs 90 and Rs 150 for a validity of 30, 60, 120 minutes and one day, respectively.