Baidebettu village in Brahmavar taluk of Udupi district will soon get high-speed Wi-Fi Internet services under the Prime Minister Wi-Fi Access Network Interface (PM-WANI) scheme to be executed by HFCL (formerly Himachal Futuristic Communications Ltd.).
A leading domestic Wi-Fi brand and one of the first Telecom Infra Project (TIP) OpenWiFi compliant solutions provider, HFCL will set up the project in collaboration with TIP to cater to the needs of about 9,000 residents of Baidebettu and surrounding places up to a radius of 6 km, said a release from HFCL.
The outdoor network will use TIP OpenWi-Fi-based access points, point-to-point radios, solar power over Ethernet devices, and other network equipment. i2e1 (PM-WANI compliant WiFi company) will provide network authentication and regulatory monitoring besides acting as the Public Data Office Aggregator (PDOA) under the PM-WANI model. The network is likely to go live by July-end. HFCL has already deployed its first PM-WANI model at Baslambi village in Haryana. The integrated package being deployed is indigenously developed and built for high performance. It is fully secure and performs under harsh weather conditions that Baidebettu witnesses throughout the year.
The network offers Wi-Fi Internet with bandwidth up to 500 Mbps in all common areas of the village and its surroundings. Baidebettu does not have any reliable connectivity as of now, the release said. WiFi deployment is expected to significantly improve the quality of life of residents by providing them access to digital services, including healthcare, education, banking, retail, entertainment and government digital services.
HFCL’s promoter and Managing Director Mahendra Nahata said that the company is committed to transforming #InternetForAll into a ubiquitous reality and has successfully collaborated with leading core solution providers to strengthen the connectivity ecosystem.
TIP’s Chief Engineer David Hutton said that the venture is glad to have HFCL as an active participant of the TIP OpenWiFi community.
He said that HFCL’s “Built in India’ disaggregated OpenWifi solutions in conjunction with PM-WANI demonstrates early success in employing TIP OpenWifi to address the digital divide.
i2e1 Founder and CEO Satyam Darmora said that the company is proud to be part of another HFCL’s “Connect to the Unconnected” initiative.
