Govt’s free WiFi project fails to take off in Delhi
More than two years after it came to power , the AAP’s promise of free WiFi is yet to take off. The pilot project was launched with much fanfare in 2016 but it could not move further due to lack of coordination between information technology department and the dialogue and development commission (DDC) of Delhi, which was first given the project.
According to the Delhi government’s latest deadline, the first phase of the project is to be launched by March next year under, which 1,000 WiFi hotspots are to set up across the city.
But seeing the sluggish progress of the project, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal last week held a review meet. Officials have been asked by Kejriwal to come up with a blueprint by next week.
Even as the information technology department is yet to identify the 1,000 spots where free WiFi will be available, sources said the government was rethinking about places it had finalized.
“Rather than providing it in parks and markets, the focus in the first phase would be to give free WiFi in utility areas. These include places with lot of visitors like SDM offices, in and around hospitals, bus terminals, motor licensing offices and so on,” an official said.
Nearly ₹25 crore has been proposed to fund the first phase of the project and the tender will be out by December 2017.
Giving free WiFi was one of AAP’s key poll promise that helped it garner support among youths. But the project slowed down due to a planning overdrive. After preparing the modalities for over a year, in March 2016, the DDC launched its first free WiFi project on a threemonth pilot basis in north Delhi’s Sant Nagar market. Users were told they would be able to download 50 MB data every day free .