Eye on smart city tag, Wi-Fi hotspots in Greater Noida soon

GREATER NOIDA: Residents of Greater Noida will soon be able to enjoy free Wi-Fi and high-speed internet. The Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority (GNIDA) has started to look for an internet service provider (ISP) that can install and manage Wi-Fi services at several public spaces.

The first phase of the Wi-Fi project would cover four sectors and 11 model villages.

After the project becomes functional, people would be provided free access for the first 30 minutes. Notably, the GNIDA has decided to cap the free data usage to 1.5GB per day.

With an aim to turn Greater Noida into a smart city , the Authority plans to have the Wi-Fi coverage in place within the next six months. The internet service provider would have to install equipment that will provide the bandwidth across 10 points in every location, including areas like C block markets in Alpha 1, Alpha 2 and Gamma 2 and City Park.

Officials said the project comprises multiple phases and the 15 locations have been earmarked for phase 1. Among other things, GNIDA would scrutinise the income statement of the past three fiscal years before selecting the bidder. Service providers with annual turnover of Rs 2 crore would be considered. Officials said preference would be given to operators who have been catering to the local population and already have an infrastructure in the city.

The Authority would charge an annual rent from the service provider. The internet service provider would have the option of making money through advertisements as well as by offering subscription plans to the residents in return, officials said. The high-speed internet would have to operate on dual-band to cater to both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz frequency bands.

Under the Smart City Mission , local bodies have to make efforts to provide Wi-Fi to residents. Though Greater Noida does not fall under the scheme, the GNIDA has been taking steps to attract more people achieve the population target of 12 lakh by 2021.

According to the OpenSignal, an independent mobile analytics company, in Hyderabad, people spend the maximum time on mobile phones that remain connected to Wi-Fi sources. By August 2019, Hyderabad had 3,000 free hotspot points.

The Authority has asked interested companies to submit their proposals.

“The evaluation of their plans would take place this week. We would decide upon a revenue-sharing model and proceed thereafter,” said GNIDA’s additional chief executive officer, Deep Chandra.

Meanwhile, the last date to participate in the bidding process of the project ended on February 12 and a technical evaluation of the proposals is scheduled on Wednesday.