With data and internet becoming the essentials of life, telcos are looking to attract customers by offering their solutions. Google’s project with RailTel and Google Station have become so huge that other companies are now looking to invest in this space.
Union Tourism Ministry, in association with state-run telecom service providers, will install free WiFi hotspots at 100 tourist places across India. These tourist places will be the most prominent ones, that support the ‘Incredible India’ campaign, and the heritage sites.
The tourism ministry will be working with these telcos to identify the exact locations where WiFi services will be installed. The main aim of this initiative is to encourage tourists to clicks photos and videos and share them on social media. India lacks strong internet facilities and this move will allow tourists to share the beauty of the country.
The deal between Tourism Ministry & Telecom Operator
Initially, the deal will be signed to provide WiFi service for seven years, with the Ministry bearing the operational cost for the first three years. Just like other WiFi services, this offer might have a first few minutes of free WiFi, followed by internet packs to be purchased.
However, decision on this is still pending and we would like this WiFi to be free for a longer time. Incidentally, free WiFi service is available at 30 tourist places as of now, and will be scaled to 100 in another 6 months.
These 30 tourist locations include the Taj Mahal in Agra, Fatehpur Sikri, the ghats of Varanasi and Khajuraho temples in Madhya Pradesh. Internet access at these locations will allow tourists and travellers to connect better with the social media and spread the importance of these places.
Considering it will be BSNL and MTNL offering WiFi services, do not get your hopes up. The service could be substandard and overpriced, if tourism ministry is not able to bargain properly with these companies. I hope the internet services remain uninterrupted at least, if slow.
Source: ET