Bangalore to be 'unwired' by February

The state government's ambitious project to unwire Bangalore and provide wireless internet connectivity to the entire city will become a reality by next February.

"The Bangalore unwired project will be rolled out by the end of January or early February. In a phased manner, it will cover 679 square kilometres. By the next edition of Bangalore IT.IN, the entire city will be unwired," Karnataka's IT / BT secretary M N Vidyashankar said.

The project 'Bangalore Unwired' aims at creating a city-wide wireless infrastructure to provide seamless integrated wireless digital environment both for government and private users.

To provide a glimpse into the technology, the Bangalore IT.IN 2006 will have free WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) facility.

"Visitors can gain a firsthand experience of the technology that will soon be part of Bangalore," he added.

The Karnataka Biotech and IT Services (KBITS) had invited expression of interest for the 'Unwire Bangalore' project to be implemented on a public-private partnership model with the government playing the role of a facilitator without any investment. The project will be implemented through principal partners and service channel partners.

The principal partners will design and implement the wireless infrastructure and maintain it for a specific period of time. Of the 13 bids received, five have been shortlisted for the first phase.