Commuters will experience a drop in mobile phone signals in the underground section for the next three months. The Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) had promised network connectivity as well as wi-fi services, but this will take a while, as the tenders were floated as late as last week.
The underground section is part of the east-west corridor connecting Baiyappanahalli to Mysuru Road. It will be thrown open to the public on April 30. However, the tender for allotment of space in stations for installation of cellular towers was floated on April 23 with a bid opening date of June 24.
Service providers will have to hire space in the underground stations. “Wi-fi services will start when mobile phone signals reach the stations,” BMRCL Managing Director Pradeep Singh Kharola told reporters on Tuesday.
City Development Minister K.J. George, who was present at the briefing, said that BMRCL is looking to provide parking spaces wherever possible to make commuting easier.
On Thursday evening, a select group of invitees will get to experience the underground section when it will be inaugurated by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Union Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu at Vidhan Soudha.
Metro will be cheaper than busIf you decide to invest in a Namma Metro smart card, you could end up spending less than what you would in a normal BMTC bus. With a 15 per cent discount on smart card fares, the option would be attractive to regular commuters, BMRCL Managing Director Pradeep Singh Kharola said.
