Ravi Shankar Prasad to launch BSNL Wi-Fi service for Varanasi ghat on February 8

NEW DELHI: BSNL's plan to launch Wi-Fi across 2,500 cities and towns will start with the inauguration of services at Dashaswamedh ghat in temple town Varanasi on February 8.

"Minister for Communications and IT Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad would inaugurate BSNL WiFi Services at the Dashaswamedh Ghat of Ganga in Varanasi on 8th February, 2015," an official statement said.

The Wi-Fi service will be free for the first few minutes and thereafter will be chargeable as per the prescribed rates.

A Ministry official added that mobile phones and tablets can access the Wi-Fi service irrespective of the SIM card being used. Prime Minister Narendra Modi won the Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency in 2014 general elections.

Other cities where BSNL has plans to launch Wi-Fi service include Lucknow, Chennai, Bhopal, Patna, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Pune, Mysore, Vadodara, Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad and Chandigarh.

The total cost of nationwide Wi-Fi programme is estimated to be around Rs 7,000 crore under which about 60,000 such hotspots will be created.

Prasad is also scheduled to inaugurate the Post Office ATM at the Varanasi Cantonment Post Office.