BSNL setting up 141 wi-fi hotspots in eastern UP

Bharat Sanchal Nigam Limited (BSNL) is setting up 141 wi-fi hotspots across Uttar Pradesh (East) telecom circle. The project stipulated to be completed within this fiscal would cover 17 cities.

The company has already set up wi-fi hotspots in Varanasi and Sarnath to provide free internet access to users. In Varanasi, which is the parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the wi-fi hotspots cover six ghats.

Similarly, wi-fi hotspots in other cities, including Lucknow, would span historical/national monuments and tourist places.

"We are in the process of identifying these free wi-fi spots and the equipment for the same is being procured," a senior BSNL official said here. A wi-fi hotspot typically needs an investment of Rs 10 lakh.

Meanwhile, BSNL has been upgrading its 3G infrastructure in UP to offer better voice and data services. While, Lucknow and Kanpur have been covered, other cities viz. Varanasi and Allahabad are to be covered in the current phase.

BSNL has been mandated to connect 37,455 village panchayats in UP (East) under the ongoing National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN).

NOFN is a project to provide broadband connectivity on optical fibre to 2,50,000 village panchayats across India for the implementation of various services, such as e-health, e-education and e-governance.

The Network forms Modi's ambitious 'Digital India' project. In UP (E), the project spans 582 blocks spread over 48 districts.

Service providers like Telecom Service Providers (TSPs), ISPs, cable TV operators etc would be given non-discriminatory access to NOFN for launching services in rural areas.