CHENNAI: If things go the way as BSNL officials have planned, the city may get wifi hotspots at four more public places by this month-end and 25 more wifi hotspots by the next month-end.
The public sector telecom service provider has taken up aggressively the work of setting up wifi hotspots at public places to compete with private telecom players.
“We have completed the survey in four areas in the city - Flower Bazaar bus stand, a prominent park near Mylapore, government offices near KK Nagar and the Vandalur Zoo,” Chief General Manager of Chennai Telephones BSNL SM Kalavathi told Express.
While in these four places the BSNL officials are confident of setting up wifi hotspots by this month-end, surveys are under way in 25 more places across the city. In August last year, the BSNL launched its first wifi hotspot at Mahabalipuram.
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So far, the Central Railway Station and airport are the only public places in the city where wifi hotspots were available.
“We had a good feedback from Mahabalipuram and replicating it in the city,” said Kalavathi. BSNL officials said the new wifi hotspots would cover a radius of 200 metres and the speed would be more than 8 to 10 mbps.
While the BSNL is currently targeting only public places which see a large number of footfalls, officials said, from the next financial year onwards, the BSNL would be setting up wifi hot-spots in malls, coffee shops and places where the public movement is more.
To a query on the total investment in setting up wi-fi hotspots, Kalavathi refused to provide details. “We have tied up with QuadGen Wireless Solutions for setting up and operating wifi hotspots at public places. We will be sharing revenue with them,” she added.
Meanwhile, those, who have been blaming the BSNL for poor 3G connectivity, have something to feel happy about because the state telecom major is setting up nearly 350 towers to boost 3G connection. “Till now we have completed the work in 15 towers. Some of the areas include Wall Tax Road,Pattalam, and Kellys,” said Kalavathi.