While Vijayawada has some catching up to do, its plans, in collaboration with BSNL and its wireless solutions partner Quadgen, are going on apace. For connectivity at its next two locations, the railway station and Mahatma Gandhi Road, base stations are being readied for launch in about a month, according to official sources.
Vijayawada Municipal Commissioner G. Veerapandian said leading telecom service provider Jionet has completed a survey of the thoroughfare. In Vijayawada, an increasing number of private establishments have taken the civic authorises’ lead and are providing free services to citizens. A few star hotels have got on board in the last four months, although charging for the service. “We are offering a 512 kbps capacity round-the-clock Wi-Fi service but if customers want high speed connectivity, they have to pay extra,” said The Gateway Hotel sales manager Md. Shabul Hussain.
Other towns in the State, have got going too. In Ongole, the municipal corporation has made itself a Wi-Fi zone for the benefit of the 1,000 or so people who pass through its portals everyday.“We are equipped for 2 MBPS download speed and our initial expenditure was Rs. 1.50 lakh. There is a recurring expense of Rs. 3,500 per month,” said Ongole Municipal Commissioner S. Venkatakrishna.
