After January 31, the state planned a mix of free and paid models with usage being free till then. Later, usage up to a certain limit was to be free after which paid plans cheaper than those offered by telecom companies, would kick in.
Citizens may soon be able to avail of high-speed public Internet services for free till March. The state government had earlier in January unveiled the first phase of the project covering 510 WiFi hotspots, with over 2,000 access points, making Maharashtra the first state to undertake a mass roll-out of these services.
After January 31, the state planned a mix of free and paid models with usage being free till then. Later, usage up to a certain limit was to be free after which paid plans cheaper than those offered by telecom companies, would kick in. However, all Government-to-Citizen (G2C) websites will now be white-listed, paving the way for unlimited access.
Vijay Kumar Gautam, Principal Secretary (Information Technology), said the free usage period will likely to continue till March-end.
"We have provided free Internet to assess the strength and usage patterns of the network," said another official, adding that the code of conduct for BMC elections will inhibit the announcement of these plans.
Gautam said the state will launch a GIS-based app which will help citizens locate the five nearest WiFi hotspots in February.
The project — billed as one of the largest public networks in the world — was launched using infrastructure created for the Mumbai CCTV surveillance project, like optic fibre and poles.
The state government may also make provisions for free daily Internet usage of up to 1GB for school and college students, and residents of underprivileged areas on this network. For other sections, users will get 100 MB or half-an-hour of free usage.
The state government is also monetizing the network by channelising advertisements on the network and white-listing B2C sites.
In the second phase, the state plans to cover schools, colleges, bus stops, grounds and the periphery of the 91 police stations. Each of the 1,200 hotspots will have around four access points, which can connect around 40 users each depending on the bandwidth. It can also be harnessed for smart solutions in parking and public transport.
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