CHENNAI: Five years after the city’s first free Wi-Fi poles were installed, many of which had subsequently stopped functioning at several spots, the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has commenced efforts to revive the initiative by fixing the non-functioning smart poles and installing nearly 120 new ones.
GCC Commissioner G S Sameeran told TNIE that the existing infrastructure would be retained wherever technically feasible. “The project will be implemented through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds. Internet service providers (ISPs) have agreed to offer free Wi-Fi,” he said.
Under the project, 50 new smart poles would be installed on the Marina Beach, 25 each at Besant Nagar and Thiruvanmiyur beaches, and 10 each in Neelankarai and Thiruvottiyur beaches, besides covering a few parks and playgrounds.
The initiative was launched under the previous government in 2021, initially covering 49 locations, including Marina and Thiruvanmiyur, to create 500 free Wi-Fi access points. However, the target was never met, and the service has remained non-functional at several spots since.
When TNIE visited the Marina Beach, bird nests were spotted on some of the Wi-Fi poles, indicating that the device has remained unused for quite some time. Several vendors in the area said they had used the facility briefly when it first came up, before giving up due to poor connectivity speed.
A vendor, on condition of anonymity, said, “In five years, I have used it only twice and then turned back to mobile data due to slow internet speed. If the GCC plans to install new poles, it should ensure that internet speed remains fast even during peak hours and heavy usage for better service delivery.”
Chottu (28) from West Bengal, a shopkeeper at Marina, said the usage window needed to be widened. “At present, free Wi-Fi can be used for only 30 minutes per user ID. It is mostly vendors and shopkeepers who use it,” he said. Several visitors TNIE spoke with at the beach were unaware of the facility.
Shopkeeper Amudha S (38) said the service tends to buckle exactly when it is needed the most. “Even we came to know about the free Wi-Fi just a year ago. On Saturday and Sunday evenings, when the beach gets crowded, the Wi-Fi eventually stops working. Visitors then struggle to make digital payments. Some even transfer the money after going home,” she said.
A corporation official from the electrical department said the previous project was executed by the ELCOT, with the GCC only facilitating it. However, this time, GCC is directly executing it, he said.
“We have already begun identifying the non-functional poles, and they will be repaired in a day or two,” the official said.
Of the 27 existing smart poles in Marina, at least eight are currently non-functional, for which repairs are being handled by the respective internet service providers, he said. The smart poles in Marina are spaced roughly 70 to 80 metres apart, between the labour statue and the lighthouse, the official said, and new ones are likely to be installed within the sandy stretch of the beach. Usage time, he added, would not be extended beyond 45 minutes a day per user ID, to prevent misuse of the facility.