Even though the State government launched Namma Wi-Fi in January as the first ‘free public Wi-Fi zone in the country’, several users say that their browsing experience is spoilt by technical glitches.
The main complaint is that the service is not user-friendly. Sabrina P., an entertainment professional who has used the service on M.G. Road a couple of times, said, “Each time, we have to login after entering the passkey. However, the Wi-Fi gets disconnected every few minutes and asks us to re-enter the passkey.”
The technical glitches are reflected in the limited number of users. The crowded M.G. Road and Brigade Road areas attract thousands of visitors every day, but have an average of 600 to 800 users per day, sources in the Department of Information Technology, Biotechnology and Science and Technology said. This, even as the maximum number of users who can use the Wi-Fi on M.G. Road and Brigade Road alone at a given time is 2,500.
The remaining locations have an average of 100 to 200 users per day.
A visit by The Hindu to other locations revealed that they too are plagued by the same problem. For instance at C.M.H. Road, the Wi-Fi service could not be used. An enquiry to call centre revealed that there was a network problem.
Although the Wi-Fi service worked well at the Shanthinagar TTMC and Koramangala TTMC when this reporter visited the two spots, officials in Koramangala said that the service had been restored after a fortnight.
The free Wi-Fi service is currently being made available by a private broadband service provider D-Vois, in association with the Department of Information Technology, Biotechnology and Science and Technology.
Besides correcting the technical glitches, people also feel that there is a need for the government to raise awareness about the service.
Acknowledging the glitches, sources in the department said that the current service was provided by the private company free of cost and the government had no service agreement.
“Representatives of the private company say that they are having bandwidth limitations,” an official said.
