This was an article in local delhi newspaper Mail Today
WHEN IT comes to wireless internet access or Wi- Fi, Delhi, which is soon going to host the Commonwealth Games, stands nowhere near other world capitals, and is even lagging behind other Indian cities like Bangalore.
There aren’t many Wi- Fi hotspots in the Capital, when one takes into view Delhi’s population and the professionals and tourists travelling here. MTNL has put up 11 Wi- Fi hotspots —in Electronic Niketan (CGO Complex), India Habitat Centre, Palam airport (domestic departure), the Election Commission, Eastern Court and two corporate offices of MTNL.
There is limited Wi- Fi connectivity in commercial public spaces such as afew Cafe Coffee Day and Barista outlets and major Hotels, where in any case Wi- Fi connectivity is quite expensive and limited to hotel guests.
Branded apartment complexes, through IT start- ups like O- Zone Private Limited and other medium- sized IT service providers, are also providing Wi- Fi connectivity. Then there’s Tata Communications, which has rolled out 60 Wi- Fi hotspots in the city, with plans to increase it to 80 by the end of this year.
‘The Wi- Fi service at airport never works”
“For Wi- Fi connectivity in all regions of Delhi, the government is considering aframework that brings together all existing technologies like GPRS, Wi- Fi and broadband. Also there is WiMax (Worldwide Inter- operability for Microwave Access), which is the latest in the field. The final decision will be taken on the basis of the economics involved,” said Deepak Virmani, deputy secretary, information technology, Delhi government.
Considering the ministry of communications and information technology had declared 2007 as the Year of Broadband, the speed of increasing density of Wi- Fi hotspots is far from satisfactory. Studies done on Wi- Fi growth indicate greater investment is needed to improve the Wi- Fi infrastructure. Astudy by Bangalore- based Tonse Telecom and Wi- Fi Alliance —aglobal, non- profit industry association of over 300 member companies devoted to promoting the growth of Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) —shows India’s Wi- Fi market will touch $890 million or Rs 3,852 crore by 2012.
According to aresearch done by FICCI, the combined Wi- Fi market (consisting of WLAN networking gear, systems integration, software services and not including embedded devices and laptops) is expected to exceed $744 million dollars or Rs 3,206 crore by 2012.
“Wi-Fi has a bright future in Delhi and across India,” said Bobby Sarin, CEO of O-Zone Private Limited, which is providing Wi-Fi connectivity in apartment complexes being built by DLF and Ansals, and shopping malls.http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1310/543921358_c313209de8.jpgNot having easy wireless internet access anytime poses a lot of difficulty to students and professionals
Sources in the government and private telecom players say the Centre has not firmed up a master plan for making Delhi Wi-Fi enabled. Although it does have in place a short-term project called ‘Unwire Delhi’, it has made little progress as there has been no major addition in the number of public hotspots. The ‘Unwire Delhi’ project seeks to provide Wi-Fi access at low cost and involves participation of government and private companies to provide connectivity in public spaces and institutions with large number of footfalls. Delhi’s IT department is working on blueprint projects in Connaught Place, South Extension and Nehru Place and hopes to complete them by August this year after which the process of providing more hotspots for Wi- Fi access will be speeded up. But as of now, wireless internet access is still scarce for people who are on the move. To top it, top players like Airtel, Vodafone and Idea are keeping the business of public W-Fi access services at an arm’s length. A leading private provider of Wi-Fi connectivity said when the government invited tenders for the Connaught Place ‘Unwire Delhi’ project, it received a lukewarm response as big players were unhappy about the revenue model.
A sense of urgency too seems to be missing in planning for the Commonwealth Games when it comes to Wi-Fi connectivity. A visit to the Commonwealth Games website showed the government did not mention IT, leave alone Wi-Fi access, as one of its key infrastructure focus areas. Lack of sufficient Wi-Fi hoptspots affects visitors and citizens. “I do a lot of domestic travelling. In Delhi it’s very difficult to get Wi-Fi access. The government does not provide any information about Wi-Fi hotspots,” said Shantanu Chakraborthy, a management consultant. Technology-adoption is another area where the state and the central governments will have to act fast. Wi-Fi is already being challenged by WiMAX, a long range system that covers many kilometres, while Wi-Fi is a shorter wireless range system that covers a limited area.
The government is focusing on providing unwired high-speed internet connectivity by setting up Wi-Fi kiosks at places of tourist interest, railway stations, hotels et al. But it has not issued tenders for these projects, though it has identified bidders including MTNL, Net4 India, O-Zone, Spectranet, Tulip IT Services and Microsense. “Internet connectivity, whether dial-up or wireless, is key for business needs. Delhi must speed up its Wi-Fi density,” said Bijoy Bannerjee, an IT specialist with Infosys.
Top 10 Wi-fi Countries
Rank Countries Locations
1 United States 62,792
2 United Kingdom 30,052
3 France 22,668
4 South Korea 21,832
5 Germany 14,745
6 Japan 10,853
7 Russian Federation 10,536
8 Spain 5,505
9 Taiwan 4,381
10 Switzerland 3,938
source: jiwire.com
India 952
Cities
Delhi 69
Banglore 334
New York 817
Paris 3503
Tokyo 2133
mailtoday.in
WHEN IT comes to wireless internet access or Wi- Fi, Delhi, which is soon going to host the Commonwealth Games, stands nowhere near other world capitals, and is even lagging behind other Indian cities like Bangalore.
There aren’t many Wi- Fi hotspots in the Capital, when one takes into view Delhi’s population and the professionals and tourists travelling here. MTNL has put up 11 Wi- Fi hotspots —in Electronic Niketan (CGO Complex), India Habitat Centre, Palam airport (domestic departure), the Election Commission, Eastern Court and two corporate offices of MTNL.
There is limited Wi- Fi connectivity in commercial public spaces such as afew Cafe Coffee Day and Barista outlets and major Hotels, where in any case Wi- Fi connectivity is quite expensive and limited to hotel guests.
Branded apartment complexes, through IT start- ups like O- Zone Private Limited and other medium- sized IT service providers, are also providing Wi- Fi connectivity. Then there’s Tata Communications, which has rolled out 60 Wi- Fi hotspots in the city, with plans to increase it to 80 by the end of this year.
‘The Wi- Fi service at airport never works”
“For Wi- Fi connectivity in all regions of Delhi, the government is considering aframework that brings together all existing technologies like GPRS, Wi- Fi and broadband. Also there is WiMax (Worldwide Inter- operability for Microwave Access), which is the latest in the field. The final decision will be taken on the basis of the economics involved,” said Deepak Virmani, deputy secretary, information technology, Delhi government.
Considering the ministry of communications and information technology had declared 2007 as the Year of Broadband, the speed of increasing density of Wi- Fi hotspots is far from satisfactory. Studies done on Wi- Fi growth indicate greater investment is needed to improve the Wi- Fi infrastructure. Astudy by Bangalore- based Tonse Telecom and Wi- Fi Alliance —aglobal, non- profit industry association of over 300 member companies devoted to promoting the growth of Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) —shows India’s Wi- Fi market will touch $890 million or Rs 3,852 crore by 2012.
According to aresearch done by FICCI, the combined Wi- Fi market (consisting of WLAN networking gear, systems integration, software services and not including embedded devices and laptops) is expected to exceed $744 million dollars or Rs 3,206 crore by 2012.
“Wi-Fi has a bright future in Delhi and across India,” said Bobby Sarin, CEO of O-Zone Private Limited, which is providing Wi-Fi connectivity in apartment complexes being built by DLF and Ansals, and shopping malls.http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1310/543921358_c313209de8.jpgNot having easy wireless internet access anytime poses a lot of difficulty to students and professionals
Sources in the government and private telecom players say the Centre has not firmed up a master plan for making Delhi Wi-Fi enabled. Although it does have in place a short-term project called ‘Unwire Delhi’, it has made little progress as there has been no major addition in the number of public hotspots. The ‘Unwire Delhi’ project seeks to provide Wi-Fi access at low cost and involves participation of government and private companies to provide connectivity in public spaces and institutions with large number of footfalls. Delhi’s IT department is working on blueprint projects in Connaught Place, South Extension and Nehru Place and hopes to complete them by August this year after which the process of providing more hotspots for Wi- Fi access will be speeded up. But as of now, wireless internet access is still scarce for people who are on the move. To top it, top players like Airtel, Vodafone and Idea are keeping the business of public W-Fi access services at an arm’s length. A leading private provider of Wi-Fi connectivity said when the government invited tenders for the Connaught Place ‘Unwire Delhi’ project, it received a lukewarm response as big players were unhappy about the revenue model.
A sense of urgency too seems to be missing in planning for the Commonwealth Games when it comes to Wi-Fi connectivity. A visit to the Commonwealth Games website showed the government did not mention IT, leave alone Wi-Fi access, as one of its key infrastructure focus areas. Lack of sufficient Wi-Fi hoptspots affects visitors and citizens. “I do a lot of domestic travelling. In Delhi it’s very difficult to get Wi-Fi access. The government does not provide any information about Wi-Fi hotspots,” said Shantanu Chakraborthy, a management consultant. Technology-adoption is another area where the state and the central governments will have to act fast. Wi-Fi is already being challenged by WiMAX, a long range system that covers many kilometres, while Wi-Fi is a shorter wireless range system that covers a limited area.
The government is focusing on providing unwired high-speed internet connectivity by setting up Wi-Fi kiosks at places of tourist interest, railway stations, hotels et al. But it has not issued tenders for these projects, though it has identified bidders including MTNL, Net4 India, O-Zone, Spectranet, Tulip IT Services and Microsense. “Internet connectivity, whether dial-up or wireless, is key for business needs. Delhi must speed up its Wi-Fi density,” said Bijoy Bannerjee, an IT specialist with Infosys.
Top 10 Wi-fi Countries
Rank Countries Locations
1 United States 62,792
2 United Kingdom 30,052
3 France 22,668
4 South Korea 21,832
5 Germany 14,745
6 Japan 10,853
7 Russian Federation 10,536
8 Spain 5,505
9 Taiwan 4,381
10 Switzerland 3,938
source: jiwire.com
India 952
Cities
Delhi 69
Banglore 334
New York 817
Paris 3503
Tokyo 2133
mailtoday.in
